Beauty In The Breakdown
by EmptyBliss x3x
Summary: TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED! FORMERLY THEIR LONELY LAMENT. Harry's bestkept secret is about to become his everything... connecting him to the Malfoys, changing his destiny, and maybe even saving the world as he knows it...
1. Chapter 1 : Surprise Ending

**Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter! Yesss! -wakes up- What? I don't own HP? DAMMIT!**

**Summary: Harry always kept a secret from everyone, even his dearest friends. Harry's life is** **almost unraveled during the summer vacation, but it might just fall apart for good once the new semester ** **starts again.**

**And... I'm back in black! Hopefully, if you read what this story once was, you'll recognize what I'm talking about when I say it's new-and-improved. FFNet deleted it(no idea why), so I've been biding my time for a good comeback. There's a new title, summary, new everything! Well, not everything...the story plot's the same, with a few touch-ups. Oh yeah, I gots a new username! But remember this...**

**NO LYRICS!**

**The songs were only there because I thought they sent an appropriate mood/theme for that point in the story, or that they got the main characters attitude across to the reader nicely. If you've never heard any of these songs, I suggest you take a listen. They're lovely songs. (I say 'lovely' alot.)**

**This chapters mood-setter: 'A Vampire's Lament' by Atreyu.**

_**.XHXDX.**_

**Chapter One: Surprise Ending**

_**.XHXDX.**_

_Why is it so damn hard,_ thought Harry Potter, _to get through a day?_

He walked up the stairs to his too-small room in the Dursley household, each step heavier than the last. Harry was exhausted; both physically and mentally. His delightful Aunt Petunia had made him work strenuously for the past nine hours. All for his stupid, selfish cousin Dudley's birthday party tomorrow. Dudley would be seventeen, and was only three days older than Harry. But for all the world, his uncle and aunt thought Dudley the 'bigger, better man' of the two.

_They always fawn on him like his ass is made of gold, _though Harry as he reached his room, opened the door, walked in, and slammed the door shut.

"Don't you DARE slam doors in my house!" shouted Vernon Dursley. "Shut the fuck up, already," Harry said quietly, so no one would hear him.

He collapsed on his bed, only grateful for the fact that his relatives, if he could even call them that, hadn't found out his secret.

No one knew Harry Potter's best-kept secret. Not even Ron and Hermoine, who had yet to write him this summer. They thought that Harry was all 'sunshine and butterflies', as Ginny might put it.

He grimaced. How had he dated her for those months? She was so...different...from him, especially in the outlook-on-life schpeal. She was all perky and happy, bubbly and girly. Harry swore; what had he seen in her that made him so crazy? Honestly...

Harry rolled over, cursed again, this time very colorfully. His uncle was this close to finding out Harry's secret, and then Vernon would surely throw him out. And, much as the Weasley's adored him, Harry doubted that they'd welcome him fulltime if Vernon were to throw him out. He didn't feel comfortable in Grimmauld Place, not after what happened at the Ministry...it still haunted him in the dead of night.

Needless to say, he has absolutely nowhere to go...unless...

Slowy a plan formed in Harry's head.

He could just run away and screw all these bastards he was forced to call relatives. Run away to Diagon Alley, he could stay in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry smiled, for the first time in 2 months; he would do it. Maybe even tonight...

...but Harry's hopes were dashed just as quickly as they had risen when Dudley barged in his room.

"Potter! Mother wants you to clean the dishes and mop the floor NOW!" Dudley sneered.

Harry got up wordlessly, he had learned it was safer to say nothing at all when dealing with someone as slow as Dudley. He walked past the fat bastard, only for Dudley to slap him across his face.

"That's for not hurrying up."

Harry walked faster, not because he was afraid of Dudley; if he chose to, Harry could easily kill the boy, even without magic. He only sped up so he wouldn't have to face his horse-faced aunt screaming at him for not being faster.

Petunia was waiting in the kitchen, stomping her foot. "Boy, I want you to wash, dry and put away all these dishes. Then you have to mop the floors in the living room and in here. I want everything to be perfectly clean for my Duddy's big birthday tomorrow! Now, snap to it! If I come in here and you're not working, I'll have Vernon deal with it!" She then walked out of the room, with a particulary nasty look on her face.

Harry rolled his eyes. Honestly, was that a threat? Maybe it would have scared a fly, but Harry was unaffected. He proceded to wash the dishes, making sure each was spotless, not for his aunt's sake, but so he wouldn't have to do them again.

It took Harry only half an hour to do the dishes, but the mopping would be harder. Dudley always ate in the living room; therefore, it was a huge pigsty in there most days. Harry smirked. The boy couldn't even eat like a human. He looked exactly like a gorilla, except he wasn't as hairy.

Harry sighed and set about doing his task, only to have his cousin come in five minutes after he was done and eat his way through a box of cookies. Harry seethed; _damn Dudley!_ He waited until Dudley left toclean up again, then hurridly made his way to his room, so no one could say he didn't do his job.

His room was dark; someone turned off the lights. Harry searched for the lightswitch with his nimble fingertips, but found nothing.

"What the...? Was someone in here?"

After searching for the lightswitch on the wall for a couple of minutes, Harry gave up and tried to make his way to his bed, ready for a goodnight's sleep before his cousin's sure-to-be raucous birthday party.

He tripped on Hedwig's cage(since when was that on the floor?) and fell on the bed. Harry sighed; maybe at least now he could sleep.

After a minute, Harry was asleep, and didn't realize he pillow he was laying on had made him feel a would-be familiar feeling of a tug behind his navel. He was being Portkeyed, to God knew where.

The Portkey landed him in a very ungraceful heap on a hard wood floor. A scream echoed throughout the room where Harry was, shocking him awake. He looked around blearily, thankful that he hadn't taken off his glasses. "Where the hell am I?"

"You mean you don't know?" said a voice, somewhere to Harry's right.

_**.XHXDX.**_

**I've NO idea whatsoever as to the reason why this was originally pulled. But rest assured, I'm royally pissed about it, and am on a mission to bring it back! Whopee! **

**But seriously...reviewing is good for the mind, body, and soul... **

Top of Form 1Bottom of Form 1


	2. Chapter 2 : What Just Happened?

**Disclaimer: I already gave you one! Read that!**

**Forgive me, but I can't refrain myself from updating within five minutes of submitting the first chapter. Call me gifted, call me weird, call me whatever.**

**Mood-setter: "Endless Dark" by HIM.**

_**.XHXDX.**_

**Chapter Two: ...What Just Happened? **

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry jumped up and spun around, ending up in a complicated-looking defense stance. "Who are you, and what do you want of me?"

The room was pitch black, and Harry knew that fistfighting would be absolutely useless in the case of a fight in this darkness. Nevertheless, he tensed and waited for something, anything, to attack him.

The voice was raspy and hoarse as it replied to Harry. The person to whom the voice belonged to sounded like he was having trouble breathing.

"Harry. Relax, I will not harm you. I only ask you to cooperate. If not, I might have to use a hex on you."

"Who are you!"

"Mr. Potter, you know me, you _have_ known me, for six years. I will cause you no harm."

"Yeah, whatever. How can I trust you if I can't even see you?"

"Excellent point. _Lumos_."

Harry wasn't expecting that, and fell backwards with the force of the spell. The light revealed none other than Severus Snape, greasy looking as ever, but with many red and blue marks around his throat. Harry's eyes widened as he took in the bruises and cuts; when had this happened?

"Potter, if you will spend less time scrutinizing me, I must ask you to pay attention."

"I'm going to guess that those pleasent looking marks were why I couldn't recognize you?"

"Very gutsy remark, Potter. If school were in session, I would take thiry-five points off for sarcasm."

"Well, school isn't in session, so it sucks for you right now doesn't it?"

"Mr. Potter...I suggest you do not test my patience. My previously peaceful night was ruined by the request to come and get you."

"Who requested me?" Harry sneered. Merlin, he hated Snape!

"None other than Mr. Lucius Malfoy."

It was very un-Harry-like, but his jaw dropped about three feet closer to the ground.

"Why the hell does he want me? Oh, I get it, this is a Death Eater convention isn't it? Main topic of conversation, Top Ten Ways to Murder Harry Potter."

Snape scowled at Harry, and lowered his wand. The amount of light did not waver, however, it did cast shadows across the man's tired face. Why was it always _he_ who had to fetch Golden Boy?

"Mr. Potter, if you'll stop with the conspiracy theories, we must leave."

"Where are we going? Voldemort's lair? What, he thought he could get me when I was tired? What a coward... he can't even face me when I have my wand with me."

Nothing flickered across Snape's face when Harry said 'Voldemort', but he saw annoyance passing through Snape's obsidian eyes. "I have no relation with Voldemort, nor do I have any loyalty to him."

Harry snorted. "I'm supposed to believe you? Give me one reason why I should."

"Because right now, you're life is in my very unwilling hands." Snape frowned, and his eyes looked dead. _If it were up to me, I'd let him die. Snotty little brat, caused me nothing but trouble over the years..._

Harry blinked. "Oh. Um...that's an okay reason."

Snape sighed in annoyance. Since when was he playing mind games with Golden Boy, He-Who-Could-Do-No-Fucking-Wrong? "Potter, we must leave now, or we shall be late for this...appointment. And I'd really rather not miss something this important. Now, are we apparating, or are you walking?"

"I can't apparate! I don't have my liscense."

"Have you not heard of Side-Along Apparition?"

Harry grumbled as he latched onto Snape's stiff arm. The way Snape winced at the contact made Harry think there were bruises there, too. Harry shuddered. _Had Voldemort done this?_

"Ready, Potter?" Harry gulped; he did not like the feeling of apparating. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Snape smirked. "Good." Then with no warning, he vanished from the room, making Harry's head spin almost comically. They arrived at their destination, Harry feeling as though he would not be able to stand up for very long. He glanced up at the sky, seeing a very cloudy and depressing atmosphere above.

_I know I'm not going to like this in the slightest..._

_**.XDXHX.**_

**And here we end...for now.**

**Please review! I swear I update faster when I get nice reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3 : First Glimpse

**disclaimer: one's been given already in the first chapter. read that.**

**About Lucius requesting Harry...nothing meant by it. Lucius only wants him because someone else does.**

**This chapters mood-setter: 'Supernatural' by Flyleaf.**

**Where We Left Off:**

_Snape smirked. "Good." Then with no warning, he vanished from the room, making Harry's head_

_spin almost comically. They arrived at their destination, Harry feeling as though he would not be_

_able to stand up for very long. He glanced up at the sky, seeing a very cloudy and depressing_

_atmosphere above._

_I know I'm not going to like this in the slightest..._

**Chapter Three: First Glimpse**

_**.XDXHX.**_

There were wrought iron gates in front of Harry, and he shivered. He was thankful for the glasses on his face, sure, but what about shoes? Dammit, it was cold around here!

Snape led the way up the narrow dirt path to a shadowly mansion in the foreground. If Harry had judged right, they had about a half an hours walk.

"Snape?" asked Harry.

"That's Professor Snape, Potter. You shall refer to me as Professor Snape."

"School's not in session, so why should I?"

Snape's lip curled in a most distasteful manner. "Once again, Potter, you have made yourself clear through sarcasm. It never ceases to amaze me that you do in fact have a brain, and a functional one at that."

Harry bristled, and felt his invisible magical energy increase dramatically around him. Apparently Snape felt it too, as he stepped away from Harry with a hurried motion. "No need for that, Potter."

Harry smirked, relishing in the fact thta he could make the too-greasy Potions master nervous. "I thought courage was standing up for yourself and others. Well, I'm standing up for myself, and I'm not going to let you insult me so profusely."

"My, my, how your vocabulary has grown."

Harry would have replied, but they had reached the huge front door of the mansion. The doors were well

embellished, with ornate carvings of unnameable beasts. Harry could make out many snakes, slithering through the wood almost as if they would in reality. In the middle of every last beast and creature, there was an 'M' carved into the cherry-oak(Harry was close enough to tell) wood. This part was done most carefully, as if the carver was intent on doing this one part perfectly. The 'M' was painted with what looked like melted silver, and adorned with emeralds. There was also a brass knocker below the 'M' that was beginning to rust.

"Shall we go in, if you've finished examinating these doors?"

Harry sighed. "Sir, yes, sir." Snape smirked. '_What a cheeky little bastard you are, Potter._'

Snape knocked the heavy brass knocker and they waited in freezing silence. Harry sneezed.

"Disgusting, Potter."

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Haha... I only added that sneeze part cuz I felt like I was gonna sneeze. :) Sorry for such a short chapter, but I don't feel much like writing anymore. Maybe another day...**

**Please click the little purple box in the lower left-hand corner and review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Introductions & The Manor

**Welp, I've cetrainly been busy! I just got a new pet; a kitten named Bandit. She's adorable!**

**Also, if you like teenage angst and fucked-up plots, check out my other story, Killer Cmplex. **

**I promise it doesn't suck horribly.**

**This chapter's mood-setter: 'A Place For My Head' by Linkin Park**

**Where We Left Off:**

_Harry sighed. "Sir, yes, sir." Snape smirked. 'What a cheeky little bastard you are, Potter.'_

_Snape knocked the heavy brass knocker and they waited in freezing silence. Harry sneezed._

_  
"Disgusting, Potter."_

**Chapter Four: Introductions & The Manor**

_**.XDXHX.**_

As Snape knocked on the door, Harry thought. '_Why the HELL does Malfoy senior want me here? This is starting to creep me out...'_

The wind picked up to frightening speeds. The windchill must have been in the negatives. Harry was freezing, and he couldn't feel his toes. Goosebumps dotted his arms, and his nose was dangerously red.

Snape looked over at him. "Why, Potter, you look positively frozen. Perhaps you should have thought ahead as to this excursion?"

Harry stared at Snape, aghast. '_..that bastard!_ ' "Well, _Severus_," here the Potions master's lip curled, "do you sleep with shoes on? I don't think so. And, for the record, I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A PORTKEY IN MY ROOM!"

"Do not raise you voice to me, Mr. Potter."

"I'll raise it to whoever I want to! I have rights, dammit!"

Snape opened his mouth to make a snarky reply, but was cut off as the magnificent doors opened at last.

Lucius Malfoy, one of the most powerful people in the wizarding world, stood before Harry. He glanced down, peering into Harry's sparkling emerald eyes. "Welcome, Harry, to my humble abode."

"Humble my ass!"

Lucius smirked. "What a mouth on you. He will appreciate that."

"Who's 'he'? VOLDEMORT? DAMN YOU LUCIUS!" screamed Harry. He tried to turn around to walk away, but only succeeded in triping over his frozen feet. Lucius glanced down, and seeing Harry socks, abruptly turned to face Snape. "Severus! How dare you let him get this way! Look at him; he's frozen solid!"

Snape sneered. "It's not my fault the boy has no common sense."

Harry observed this odd behavior from his oh-so-comfy seat in the mud. Since when did Lucius, of all people, care about Harry's welfare? And, dammit, couldn't they just go inside already before he became a Harry-shaped popsicle?

Lucius, as if reading Harry's mind, helped him up and lead him to the mansion's open doors. "Let's get you cleaned up, Harry, and then we'll get you some warm clothes."

"Since when are you not a sadistic bastard, Malfoy?"

"Since the circumstances have changed, Harry."

"Don't call me Harry. You don't even deserve the privilege. You've tried to kill me! Let go of me!"

Harry was ranting; Lucius cringed in worry. Was Snape so damn hard on the boy he couldn't even get him his shoes, for Merlin's sake?

Harry didn't notice that they were inside the mansion already, and only noticed when Lucius slapped him. "Sorry, Harry, had to be done."

"Whatever."

Harry stopped and took in the surroundings. There was a grand staircase to the right, which had a smooth carpet made of velvet going over the steps, the color a deep emerald green. The railings were a dark wood-y color, and were carved ornately. To Harry's left was a huge room, which looked like a dining room, complete with a wood table and chairs. It looked like it was set out for a feast, with every place at the table immaculately decorated. There was a green carpet on the floor, going from wall to wall. On the wall next to the table was a tapestry, which looked like a family tree from the past 7 generations. The wallpaper was embellsihed with a green and silver paisely pattern. '_Strange, I thought paisely didn't look good anywhere. but this place must be so scary, it works.'_

The carpeting beneath Harry was more plush than the staircase carpet, and felt good to his cold feet. This too, was emerald, and was wall-to-wall.

Directly ahead of Harry was a simple looking room, maybe a library or sitting room, or both. There were chaise lounge chairs every few feet, and they too had the paisely pattern upon them. The carpeting was infinetly soft-looking, and Harry wanted nothing more than to examine the many book shelfs littering the room. From Harry's point of view, there seemed to be every book you could ever want to read, from Renaissance literature to spells and back again. On the wall there was a beautiful painting of a boy no more than six years of age.

"Who's that boy in the painting?"

"That would be my son, Draco." answered Lucius. He seemed pleased that Harry seemed to like the interior of the house, and even more so that Harry saw the painting. Maybe now Harry could see his son in a better light, and this appointment might go better than planned.

"Who did the painting?"

_'Oh, he likes art! This will proceed wonderfully.'_

"I can't recall the painter's name, but he was quite good."

"Hm," was all Harry said. "Would you mind showing me where a bedroom is? I feel as if I could pass out."

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Sorry if this chapter sucked, though I hope it didn't.**

**Review, faithful readers! Bandit asks you to :)**


	5. Chapter 5 : Rooms & Silver Eyes

**Well, I only got 1 review for last chapter. This doesn't make me happy!**

**This chapter's mood-setter: 'Wasting My Time' by Default**

**Where We Left Off:**

_"That would be my son, Draco." answered Lucius. He seemed pleased that Harry seemed to like the interior of the house, and even more so that Harry saw the painting. Maybe now Harry could see his son in a better light, and this appointment might go better than planned._

_"Who did the painting?"_

_'Oh, he likes art! This will proceed wonderfully.'_

_"I can't recall the painter's name, but he was quite good."_

_"Hm," was all Harry said. "Would you mind showing me where a bedroom is? I feel as if I could pass out."_

**Chapter 5: Arguing & Rooms**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Lucius led Harry up the grand stairs. He could not shake off a sense of foreboding; how would this arrangement work out in the end? Would Harry end up killing his son? Or the other way around? Lucius honestly didn't know.

"Malfoy?" Lucius winced at this harsh address. "Please, Harry, call me Lucius." Harry sneered. "Why should I?"

Lucius winced. Why was Harry so angry? What had Severus said to him? "Because, Harry, being on a first-name basis with everyone around you will make this so much easier on your part. And I only want what's best for you, believe it or not."

"Bullshit. Why should I believe you about anything? For all I know, you could have been with Voldemort the night he killed my parents. You probably laughed when he pointed the wand at them." Harry shuddered. "The press wouldn't have made it known that the all-powerful Malfoy senior was there, would they?"

"For one thing, Harry, you have every fact imaginable wrong about this silly little assumption of myself and Voldemort. I wasn't there; I don't even know the address where James and Lily were killed. And I wouldn't have laughed, I'dve sneered, knowing me. And, no, they wouldn't have. Hell hath no fury quite like that of an angry Malfoy."

"Pretty words get you nowhere in my book, _Malfoy_." Harry spat out.

Lucius sighed. Nothing would get though to him. He was too biased because of that fool Dumbledore.He had brainwashed the boy, making it seem as though anyone who walked down Knockturn Alley was pure evil. It wasn't fair, and Harry probably knew that.

"Harry, I'm on your side. I really am. Dumbledore, the old fool, the stupid man, the-"

-barmy old codger?" interupted Harry. Lucius smirked. "Barmy? What in Merlin makes you say that?"

"Well, my friend, Hermoine, was in his office one day last year to ask him a question about Prefect duties. She swore that he looked nowhere but at her-" here Harry cleared his throat akwardly "- never mind. But anyways, since then she won't go up there alone."

Lucius laughed. Barmy, indeed! Honestly, that old man needed to be instatutionalized.

Harry grinned, for the first time since he'd been Portkeyed. "Since then I've lost my respect for him."

"I think anyone would have. But, somehow, we got off track. Harry, you've been Portkeyed here, with Severus's assitance-" Harry snorted, which sounded strangely like 'Assistance my ass' "-for a very important reason. However, I cannot tell you that reason until you've rested awhile. You look positively ghastly. Here's your room. Also, I think it'd be best if you locked the door."

"Why?" Harry asked. "What, you've got a rabid dog somewhere?"

"No. But another sort of rabid animal if you will. Goodnight." The door clicked softly behind Lucius as it closed.

Harry was too amazed by the room before him to remember to lock the door.

The main centerpiece of the room was a huge bed, with a forest green comforter, obviously over-stuffed pillows, and a canopy. There was a trunk at the end of the bed, with brass buckles on it for decoration. The bed looked soft to the touch, and Harry wanted nothing more than to lay there for eternity. The carpet beneath him was plush, white, and patterned with a gigantic green 'M' in the middle. The ceiling was domed gracefully, and had a grand crystal chandelier hanging peacefully. The walls were pure white, with a few paintings here and there. The furniture was astonishing, to say the least. Deep, dark oak dressers and closets littered the room at strategic intervals. Next to the bed, on either side, were silver-plated lamps.

Harry walked to the first door he saw, on the other side of the room, and opened the surprisingle light-weight door. It was a bathroom, complete with a bathtub with clawed feet that looked like it could hold three people, a shower with fogged glass doors, and a huge mirror with a large expanse of space in front of it for toiletries. The toilet was on the other side of the shower(**A/N: if anyone cares!**). Harry left the bathroom and decided to see what was in the closets.

Harry sighed and walked to the first one. He had a feeling he'd know what he'd find. He opened the doors and, just as he thought, his clothes were there, specifically his shirts. Harry walked to the next one - his pants. The next one after that was Hogwarts robes and shoes, including his dirty trainers.

The dressers also had Harry's clothing inside, his socks, undershirts, pajamas, and underwear. The trunk had photo albums and other knick-knacks Harry had collected. His wand was on the bed, and Hedwig's cage was on a silver perch in the far corner.

This whole ordeal was confusing, exhausting, and scary to Harry, though he'd never admit to any of them. He sighed and walked over to the heavenly looking bed, and promptly passed out.

Five minutes later, the door opened slowly. Silver eyes watched Harry sleep with interest. Those eyes never wavered until Harry woke up, two hours later, from a devastatingly scary nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6 : The Nightmare

**Happy Easter! Late gift for everyone, but hopefully as good as a basket full of chocolate. :)**

**Bandit and I were very pleased with the lovely responses we got for the last chapter. XD**

**This chapter's mood-setter: 'Tourniquet' by Evanescence. **

**One of my favorites, and it fits nicely.**

**Where We Left Off:**

_This whole ordeal was confusing, exhausting, and scary to Harry, though he'd never admit to any of them. He sighed and walked over to the heavenly looking bed, and promptly passed out._

_Five minutes later, the door opened slowly. Silver eyes watched Harry sleep with interest. Those eyes never wavered until Harry woke up, two hours later, from a devastatingly scary nightmare._

**Chapter 6: The Nightmare**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry lay on his bed, shaking in the avalanche of feelings from his nightmare. His dream had led him back to the night his parents were killed. He saw how they died. Voldemort had tortured them, made them bleed, hurt them. And Harry had seen it all.

It had been midnight, possibly later, in Harry's dream.Then Voldemort came in. He entered the Potters' home, stealthier than anything, but strangely, Harry could see him, hear him, even smell his moldy, dank presence in the house. Harry was standing right by Voldemort, but he didn't see Harry. Instead, he chose to walk up the stairs that led to his parent's bedroom, with Harry hot on his heels. He tried to tackle the bastard, but fell right through him, landing not all too gracefully on the stairs.

All the rooms on the second floor hallway were dark, except for one at the very end - Harry's parent's room. Voldemort grinned, an evil, foul grin as he crept towards the room. _"Perfect,"_ Voldemort hissed, whispering in Parseltongue. Harry gulped - he could understand him perfectly.

_"Now I shall reep my revenge upon these ungrateful Potters."_

Lily and James had been sleeping peacefully in their room, the only light source being a small bedside lamp. Voldemort creeped through the doorway, holding out his wand, which was sparking slightly at the tip. _"I have you now, right where I want you."_

Neither James nor Lily stirred. Voldemort held his wand high, and said "_IMPERIO."_

They shot up in the bed immediately, eyes wide and staring. Their hands were frozen stiff, and their skin had a tinge of blue to it. The Potters' looked half dead.

"James. Lily. How nice of you to awaken. Get up and follow me. We're going to the basement. I feel the need to torture you."

Silently, James and Lily got up, and walked through the doorway. The way they walked had reminded Harry of Frankenstein, only worse. They trudged down the stairs, and again down the basement steps. There they stood, frozen in place, awaiting Voldemort's orders. Harry had followed all three of them downstairs, and he couldn't think of a time when he was more scared than right now.

Voldemort appeared in front of James and Lily. He still wasn't seeing Harry. Voldemort conjured two nail beds, locked the doors and wondows, and cast a silencing charm leisurely, as if he were enjoying the oncoming torture. "James, Lily, be dears and lay down on those beds for me. I'll be sure to strap you in nice and tight." He sneered egotistically.

"NO! MUM, DAD, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU!" Harry screamed. No one heard him. No one even so much as looked at him. It was at that moment that Harry realized he was invisible.

James laid down, and Lily followed suit. Voldemort waved his wand lazily, and straps appeared out of nowhere. They were tight enough to push the seemingly frigid bodies into the pins, making them ooze sticky red blood.

Voldemort smirked satisfactorily. "Finite Incantum." Immediately, screams ricocheted off the walls, making Harry become close to tears, He had never heard his parents - his brave, courageous parents - scream before. It was heartbreaking. Voldemort laughed, a cold, malicious laugh that made the hairs on Harry's back stand up. "The more you scream, the faster you die, and the more I enjoy this."

"NO! MUM! DAD! SOMEONE HELP!" Harry shrieked.

"Time for some fun," stated Voldemort. "_CRUCIO! REDUCTO! SECTUMSEMPRA!"_ As Voldemort said this last spell, blood poured from the Potter in rivers; from their chests, their heads, everywhere. Harry knew that they would die within seconds. Voldemort said some sort of incantation that revived them completely, and made the beds vanish. James stood up shakily, then helped up Lily, who looked like she would pass out from shock.

"MUM! DAD! RUN, QUICK! HE'LL DO IT ALL AGAIN!" sobbed Harry. He hadn't even realized that he'd been crying. He'd been rooted to the spot by pure shock; he couldn't move at all now, lest he fall because of his stiff legs.

Janes spun around to face Voldemort. "VOLDEMORT! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT? WE'VE REPAYED OUR DEBT; WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED!"

Harry winced. He'd never heard his father swear before. It scared him.

Lily was crying softly. "Where's Harry? Have you already killed him, or are you leaving him for next?" Voldemort sneered at her. "The boy's fine. I don't even know where he is, and nor do I care. He can do nothing to stop me, nobody can. You are going to die tonight."

Lily sobbed harder, and Harry saw tears in his father's eyes. "Why, Tom? Why do you need to kill us? We've done what we were supposed to do, we've repayed out debt to you. Why do you try to kill us in such a manner?"

"I'll kill you however I want to. For example I could rip your bodies limb from limb. I could tear out your own entrails and strangle you with them. I could burn you, sear your bodies with so much heat your skin will decay just from that. I can list many ways to kill you, Potter, but I don't have the time. I can only use '_Crucio'_ so many times."

Vodemort laughed as he cast '_Crucio'_ on them, perhaps more than ten times. He cast _'Sectumsempra' _on James twice, and made Lily watch, crying, tied in binds so she couldn't move. He then did the same, only reversed Lily and James' positions in the spell. By the end of the torture, Lily was ghastly pale, shaking, sobbing, exhausted, and hoarse from screaming. Jame was the same, except he wasn't crying. Rather, he was angry. He was so full of hatred for the man before him, he wanted nothing more than to kill him with his very own hands. Screw magic, he'd kill him with his own two fists if he had the energy!

"I told you that you would die tonight, Potter. Did you not believe me?"

"V-Voldemort, I beg of you don't harm Harry!" screeched Lily. Screaming was all she had the energy for, and after that she passed out. James looked at his beloved wife and got even angrier, if possible. Angry enough to forget his pain and face Riddle.

"MUM! OH FUCK, IS SHE DEAD! DAD, SAVE HER! DON'T WASTE YOUR ENERGY ON THIS BASTARD! MUM!" Harry was rooted to where he stood, perhaps by some cruel magic, and he couldn't move for fear of what was right in front of him. He had screamed thorughout the torture, he couldn't even turn away from the immitent death of his parents. _'This isn't fair!' _

He screamed again, seeing Voldemort cast _'Crucio'_ on his mothers exhausted body was almost too much to bear. Harry was ready to faint.

"Lily! Wake up darling, please wake up!" James shook his wife, but to no avail. She was already dead, from bodily exhaustion, blood loss, and sheer torture.

"SHE'S DEAD! MUM! NO! MUM WAKE UP! MERLIN, WHY? WHY WHY WHY? MUM! MUM I LOVE YOU! PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD! MUM!" Harry was openly sobbing now, nor caring that he looked strange, only that one of the two people he'd ever loved was dead.

"Ah, Lily's dead already? Poor James, I bet you feel just awful!" Voldemort mocked him evilly. Oh, how he adored causing pain! This had almost been to easy, he'd never think that Lily Potter would fall so quickly. _'Must have been weak all along.'_

"Your turn, James. I hope you've led a happy life, because it's over now. _'Avada Kedavra'_!" James screamed. "HARRY!" That was his last word as he fell over his beloved late wife in a heap of limbs.

Voldemort laughed. Harry screamed.

Then he had woken up.

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Ooh, scary! Welp, I hope everyone had a 'lovely' time reading this chapter, and no one got scared and/or disgusted beyond imagination. Once again, Happy Easter everyone. Eat candy and rejoice!**

**Review. Bandit says pwease...well actually, she mewed at the computer.**

**Until next!**


	7. Chapter 7 : In Comes Draco

**HEY! Four days since I updated...anyone pissed at me for taking so long? **

**This chapter's mood-setter: 'Sorrow' by Flyleaf. **

**New band, _AWESOME_ sound. **

**Download some of their songs, or buy the CD.**

**Where We Left Off:**

_"Your turn, James. I hope you've led a happy life, it's over now. AVADA KEDRAVA!"_ _James screamed. "HARRY!" That was his last word as he fell over his beloved, late wife in a heap of limbs. _

_Voldemort laughed. Harry screamed._

_Then he had woken up._

**Chapter 7: In Comes Draco**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry sobbed openly. He knew why he'd had that dream. It had everything to do with his secret. Harry knew that his ... 'abilities' ... would come strongly now than before. The thing was, he just wasn't ready for them.

Harry was too caught up with his thoughts to realize that the door had opened, and silver eyes were staring at him confusedly.

_'Should I help him?'_ thought the person connected to the mysterious grey orbs. _'After all, he is_-'

"Draco! What do you think you're doing? Get away from Harry's door this istant!" Draco jumped about a mile in the air, the voice shaking him from this observement of Potter. "But, Father, I need-"

"What you need, Draco, is to tell him yourself. It simply won't do any good if he wakes up and finds you watching him. Wait until he's awake, had something to eat, and rested a bit; then you'll explain _everything_."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry rolled off his bed a good hour later. He didn't want to seem as if he were a weakling, crying like that. It simply wouldn't do.

He tip-toed over to the bathroom. Harry didn't want the Malfoys to know he was up and at 'em. Lucius might come strolling in, going on and on about he was 'only concerened for Harry's well-being'. "What a load of bullshit." said Harry angrily. Honestly, how dare Lucius get sappy with him?

Harry turned on the water as hot as it could go. He stripped, stepped in, and let the water soothe out the stiff knots in his back. Harry sighed. At least the Malfoy's knew a thing or two about good living.

Harry peered through the steamy air. There had to be at least 20 different bottles of shampoo in this one shower alone! "Crikey! Malfoys sure are vain when it comes to the well-being of their hair!" He then grabbed the nearest bottle and upturned it. Blue gel oozed out. "Well, it smells pretty damn good."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry shut off the water 20 minutes later, looking squeaky clean. He still couldn't fight off that feeling of foreboding though, and it was starting to creep him out. It was as if something bad would happen to him, and soon...

Harry opened the riveted glass door, and a blast of cold air hit him. "Dammit! I forgot the towel! Again!" He climbed out anyway, dripping water everywhere. "I really hope that a towel is in the damned cabinet, 'cause I'm not leaving this room till I get one!"

Thankfully, there was a towel under the sink, a fluffy, purple one at that. "Not only are the Malfoy's vain, but I'm beginning to think that they're gay as well." Harry stated, trying to keep a straight face when he found it. He wrapped it around his middle, sighing in relief at the feeling of being covered again.

The fogged up mirror was beginning to annoy Harry. All he could see was his misty eyes, and it was very disconcerting, only being able to see vivid emerald eyes staring back at him. He swiped at the mirror with his open palm , and he could see himself again. Harry sighed. Nothing new. _Nothing special..._

Skin, pale as moonlight, contrasted harshly with his ebony hair, which was now shoulder length, and no longer messy. Instead it, it was smooth and sleek, but was knotted from his shower. Harry pouted and bit his lip flirtaciously at the mirror. Adorably thin, red lips shone back. He had oddly long lashes framing his eyes. Harry let his eyes drift down. Strong, slighty muscular-looking arms leading to large, nimble hands. Broadening chest. Flat stomach, with a 'sexy' six-pack. Thin hips, with the slightest curve anyone could imagine. Harry didn't want to look anyfurther, but his eyes were drawn to a pink scar on his left wrist. He sighed. _'Why'd I ever cut myself? It didn't help anything.'_

His body dry, for the most part, Harry walked out of the bathroom.

And screamed.

_**.XDXHX.**_

He screamed too. He didn't think Harry would come out so soon! But, damn, he didn't regret coming in the room, not if it meant catching a glance of those abs!

Harry ceased screaming, and instead yelled. "MALFOY! WHAT IN FUCK'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN HERE!"

"I...I just..never mind!" Draco stammered.

Harry glared at him. "Then get out."

Draco sneered, "You can't order me out of a room on my own house, Potter. Nice try, I'm staying for a bit. I like it in here, very cozy."

"Draco! What did I say, just FIVE minutes ago! Leave him be! You'll see him at dinner!" screeched Lucius. He'd been walking by, wanting to see if Harry would be up yet, but heard screaming and his son's voice. _Merlin damn him_, thought Lucius, _I swear, Draco has selective hearing!_

"Dinner?" said Harry. He hadn't realized he was starving, having last eaten at least a day ago. Lucius seemed to remember this fact, and said hurridly, "Yes, Harry, dinner will be in about ten minutes. I'll come back then, seeing as I obviously can't trust my son to accompany you." He then walked over, grabbed Draco's right ear, and led him out of the room, with Draco screaming "FATHER! DO YOU REALIZE HOW EMBARRASSING THIS IS! DAMN IT ALL, LET GO! That hurts..."

Harry snickered behind his hand, his eyes twinkling with mirth. _Haha._

Harry dashed about, collecting some pants and a shirt to wear for dinner. He ran his fingers through his hair, and didn't really care it if was acceptable or not.

A knock came at the door. Lucius peeked in, and seeing Harry was fully dressed, stepped in fully. "Ready for dinner, Harry?" He nodded.

"At dinner, you'll meet my wife, Narcissa. I believe you've heard of her?"

Harry's face turned sour. "Yeah, I've heard of her...she's a bitch isn't she? Always snipping at everyone..."

Lucius's eyes widened at the morbid accusation at his wfie's expense, but shrugged it off as one of Harry's spiteful comments. "Well, she can be, at times, but I'm warning you right now; she's infinitely picky about table manners."

"Whatever, Malfoy."

Lucius sighed inwardly. Would he ever gain Harry's trust? Honestly, what did he have to do?

"Let's be going then, Harry."

"I told you, don't call me Harry."

The walk to the legendary Malfoy dining room was a tense one. Lucius was nervous, and Harry was pissed. A lethal combination.

They entered the dining room to find it immaculately set up, with four places filled with sparkling glasses and china with the Malfoy crest on them. Narcissa was sitting next to the head of the table, and Draco was on the other side. The placemat next to Narcissa was empty, which meant he had to sit next to Malfoy junior. _Ah, shit._

Draco wouldnt look at him, obviously embarrassed from before with the ear dragging incident. Narcissa maintained a cool composition, wanting to make a good impression on Harry. It was deathly silent. Harry sensed that they were waiting for him to say something

"Uhh...hi, everybody?"

Narcissa glanced at him, smiling extremely briefly. Draco flushed and looked down. _What the hell is wrong with Malfoy? _

"Please sit, Harry. Dinner is served."

Harry pulled out the chair he'd been assigned, which was, of course next to Draco. Damn his luck. He offered a teeny smile, trying not to look like an icy bastard, and Draco blushed again. _Okay, screw that._

Narcissa was coolly scrutinizing him, obviously wanting to notice a small infraction on her strict table manner rules. Nothing so far, but she'd get him...

Two tense, silent moments later, in which Harry had stared at the ceiling, seeing nothing, five house-elves rushed in, carrying platters of savory smelling food. Harry breathed in deeply. He had to admit, the Malfoy clan sure knew high living at its best.

"So Harry, _dear_," crooned Narcissa Malfoy in a way she obviously thought was maternal, "feel free to eat anything you wish. You look half starved!"

Harry managed a small smile after processing her words. It seemed as if she were purposely putting him on the spot just to see him mess up. Well, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"Well, yes, I am half starved most days. You try living a week with the Dursely's and see if you don't come back ten pounds skinnier." Narcisssa looked extremely affronted. "Potter, are you saying I need to lose weight!"

Harry faked an apologetic amile. Truthfully, she could stand losing a little luggage in the hip area. Looked like she needed to get out and do something, Lucius must be making her stay in the house to avoid unpleasent confrontations by the press.

Draco snorted. Honestly, was Harry this dumb? How could he, Draco, king of dignity, ettiquite, and elegance, be forced to have to-

"-isn't that right, Draco?"

"Wha?" replied Draco in a very undignified manner. _So much for dignity_. Now that's out the window, on the curb, and down the street.

Lucius smirked. "I said, you've gotten your license from the Ministry for Apparition, did you not?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Well, Potter, only those of the age of seventeencan be licensed. When's your birthday? October? No wait, November, am I right?" Draco sneered. "You'll just have to learn Side-Along Apparition, 'cause it's a long time till you get your-"

"My birthday is on July 31st." interrupted Harry snidely.

Draco sputtered. "B-but that's in...TWO DAYS! What the frig? Just how is that fair?"

"What's not fair about it, Malfoy? The fact that you can't lord it over me that you have an Apparition license while I don't? Oh yeah, Malfoy, real courteous."

"What the frig is-?"

"Never mind." said Harry exasperatedly. Stupid Malfoy and his stupid 'What the frig?'s...

The meal fell into silence after that little fiasco, and Harry took the ample oppurtunity to think things over. He placed his head on the table in concentration, thinking. _Why am I still here? Normally, I would have run away by now...what's wrong with me?_

"AAAAH!" screeched Narcissa. How dare Harry...

"GET YOUR NASTY LITTLE ELBOWS OFF MY TABLE!"

Harry look shocked. "Wha? My elbows? But they're perfectly fine..."

"GET THEM OFF MY TABLE!"

"Whatever! They're off! Stop screaming!"

"Mother!" "Narcissa!" shouted the other Malfoys. Draco became red in the face. Dammit, no more, woman!

"MUM! SHUT UP!" he screamed. Harry winced. Holy shit, was Malfoy junior pissed!

"W-what di-did you say, D-Draco?" stuttered his mother. He'd never yelled at her before.

"Just stop freakin' screaming already. They're only elbows, they won't kill the damned table THAT'S ALREADY DEAD." Draco got up and stomped away.

"Uh..."filled in Harry during the following silence. "Should...should I go up there and talk to him?"

Lucius looked extremely frazzled. "If you wish, Harry...be careful, my son's known for his temper."

"Yuh-huh."

Harry stood up and dashed the way Malfoy had gone. He couls faitly hear angry mumbling, so he knew he was going the right way. Unless a house elf just met Draco, then Harry was screwed.

Harry stopped and listened. Angry mumbling...to the...left. Right. Yeah, go left. _Wait...left or right? Dammit!_

It didn't matter right then, because Harry heard Malfoy scream. "Goddammit it all!"

"Shit." whispered Harry. "Better skedaddle." He ran off towards the sound of Malfoy screaming.

Left. Right. Left. Left again. A slightly open door. Bingo.

The screaming was defidently coming form there, Harry determined, if the sound of thrashing is anything to go by.

Harry peeked in the door. It was pitch-black, but strangely, he could see perfectly. His emerald orbs widened considerably. There was Malfoy, alright, but what the hell was he doing? Harry couldn't tell. Malfoy's back was to him. _Dammit, Malfoy, move your ass!_

He spoke too soon. Malfoy spun around, and Harry saw everything. The blood. The wild look in Malfoy's eyes. The pure animalistic instinct of the kill was flying about that room.

What Harry saw next would stay with him forever.

Malfoy bit his arm, drawing fresh blood. Hs pearly, white fangs glistened in the liquid's deep red shine. He sucked on his arm, clearly enjoying the taste of the blood. His eyes were closed, but Harry could see that Malfoys was enjoying drinking his own blood by the way his eyeballs were moving at a scariliy fast pace under his eyelids.

The smell of the blood drove Harry crazy. It made every sense go into super-overdrive.

Harry couldn't take it anymore; he gasped. Malfoy's eyes shot open faster than Superman. His narrow, dialated pupils focused on Harry's, making his feel very frozen in place. _Oh Merlin, the Gaze...I never thought it'd be used on me...I'm the one who usually uses it..._

Harry got his act back together faster than Malfoy had expected. "Holy fucking shit, Malfoy, you're a vampire too?"

_**.XDXHX.**_

**...well, we're you expecting that?**

**I certainly wasn't.**

**Well, now I'm off, 'cuz I gotta go to my friend's brother's birthday party. :) Even more candy!**

**While I'm gone, Bandit, my adorable kitten, would LOVE some reviews...whatever. **

**Just a suggestion.**


	8. Chapter 8 : I'm Not The Way You Think

**hey all! **

**im getting some AWESOME reviews! i love you ALL!**

**disclaimer: dont own HP DM LM or SS. or anyone else! please dont sue! i have nothing!cries**

**Wow...lots of reviews for the last chapter! I'm impressed...in fact, so impressed, I'm updating! Yippee!**

**This chapter's mood-setter: 'The Mess' by Fivespeed.**

**Awesomeness.**

**Where We Left Off:**

_Harry couldn't take it anymore; he gasped. Malfoy's eyes shot open fatser than Superman._ _HIs pupils focused on Harry's, making his feel very frozen in place. Oh Merlin, the Gaze...I never thought it'd be used on me...I'm the one who usually uses it..._

_Harry got his dignity back faster than Malfoy had expected. "Holy fucking shit, Malfoy, you're a vampire too?"_

**Chapter 8: I'm Not The Way You Think I Am**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Malfoy froze completely. "What did you just say, Potter?" he asked in a quivering voice.

"Don't deny the fact that you are a VAMPIRE!" Harry screamed the last word. Four seconds later, Narcissa and Lucius were running in the room. _How'd they get here so fast?_

"W-what did you say, H-Harry?" gasped Lucius. Merlin, had Harry found out already!

"YOUR SON IS A FUCKING VAMPIRE! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KEEP THIS FROM THE REST OF THE DAMNED WORLD?" Harry shrieked. _Merlin, I think I would have fucking NOTICED that Malfoy was a vampire._

Lucius winced. _Shit._

"Harry, I think it would be better if we all just sat down and talked about this. All of you, come with me. We're going to the study."

Harry was seething as the Malfoys walked ahead of him. Malfoy junior seemed frightened of Harry's wrath, and was walking restlessly ahead of his parents, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, only to see Harry glaring poison-tipped daggers back.

Five minutes later, they reached the study. It was a huge room, with shelves upon stacks of books everywhere. There was a roaring fireplace across from the doorway, and a desk on the righthand side of that. There were single-seating couches every few meters, and each was comfortable looking. Harry dimly recognized it as the room he had seen when he first entered the Malfoy abode.

"Draco dear, I really wish you wouldn't drink you're own blood. It just makes you weaker." said Narcissa. This was the fourth time this month she'd caught him in the act. She sighed, vampires always needed to feed more when the were finding their-

"Sit, everyone." commanded Lucius. How in Merlin's name was he going to do this?

"Harry, I think it necessary you read this briefly. It's a Malfoy family history." said Lucius as he pulled a leather-bound, dusty book off the shelf to his right.

"Like HELL I'm going to read your family history. Not when you could just tell me to my face." Lucius sighed. Harry had a point there.

"Fine. I would still like you to briefly skim this in your spare time."

"Whatever." sneered Harry cautiously. This whole thing was really starting to scare him, and he wanted nothing more than to just go back to the Dursley's. _Did I really just say that? I must be desperate..._

"I see that you've found out my best-kept secret, Harry." started Lucius.

"No shit, Sherlock." spat Harry. "Don't even attempt to try to talk to me like I'm a child, Malfoy. I'm above that level, and have been, for the past ten years. Don't expect me to bow under your almightily prissy authority."

"...but you're sixteen, Harry." said Draco, trying to figure out what Harry had meant by what he had said about being above a child's level. What the frig was that about?

Harry looked terrified. "I..I don't...want...t-to talk about...it." He said in a shaky voice. What if the Malfoys found out about his other secret? They'd think him weird, and not worthy of companionship. Companionship; _all I ever really wanted_. His eyes filled with crystal clear tears. Harry shook his head, no, no he wouldn't have that. He couldn't have that.

"Harry...dear...why won't you tell us what happened?" spoke up Narcissa ina timid voice. She had a sneaking suspition about what Harry was hiding from them.

"I...I can't tell you. I won't!" Harry's voice cracked at this part.

He looked up. He could clearly see Lucius's face, wrinkled up in worry. Narcissa's face was the same, but she looked more concerned. Draco looked confused. What did Harry mean?

Harry couldn't take it anymore. He jumped out of seat faster that you could say 'Quidditch' and ran out of the paisely clad room. He didn't even hear Lucius shout "Harry!"; he was going that fast. He just had to leave that room and all the concern about him. He wouldn't let anyone be concerned about him.

Harry took a sharp right and stopped running, and tried to catch his breath. He leaned over and placed his hands on his kness and panted. He'd never gone so far so fast before, and it was exhausting.

There was a smallish looking room to his left with a slightly open door. Harry looked over his shoulder, and, seeing no one, dashed in to the room, locking the door behind him.

The first word that came to Harry's mind about the room before him was frugal. Plain, black, unadorned walls peered back at him. There was a matress on the floor next to a large, but bare, dresser, and was cloaked in shadow. The dresser had a small mirror on t, and Harry could see himself looking back, his emerald eyes threatening to spill their tears onto his cheeks. Harry blinked them away and instead stared at a candle's orange flame across the room. It seemed to be the only light in there.

Harry's breathing was no longer ragged, and his heart had stopped going at ninety miles an hour. He walked over to the candle's tiny light, and stuck out a slim finger to touch the heat. The flame burned him, and Harry gasped at the unexpected rush of feelings. Fear, pain, and relief passed through him. Harry so loved the feeling of sheer pain coming from his burnt fingertip. For the first time in awhile, he smiled. He decided to do it again, and as he put his finger closer to the mini source of heat, the door opened.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Well, I hope your happy with yourself, Harry. You could have seriously damaged your finger tissue if Severus hadn't caught you!" Lucius was outraged and scared at the same time.

Narcissa was fulfilling her duty as a mother and was bandaging Harry's blackened fingertip. The sight had very much grossed her out, yes, but she still felt partly responsible for Harry. Mainly because he was currently residing in her house, but also because she's taken a liking to the unfortunate boy.

"Ouch! Stop pulling it so tight!" said Harry. He was really thankful to Narcissa for actually taking care of his injury instead of icily ignoring him, but Merlin, did she have an iron grip!

Harry cringed as she wrapped the gauzey material around his pained finger the last time. "There you go, Harry, all finished. Promise me you'll stay away from fires for a little while, Pyro."

Harry had the good sense to look ashamed. "Yes, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Honestly, Harry, think before you act! What if Severus HADN'T seen you? Imagine what wouldn've happened!" Lucius ranted.

"Don't act like your my FATHER, Malfoy. Last I checked you were Blondie's dad, not mine."

"I resent that!" shouted Draco.

"AT LEAST YOU HAVE A FATHER!" screamed Harry. His eyes widened as the extent of what he had just said sunk in. Harry slithered back into his chair, and sat rigidly for a few seconds, then slumped over his knees and started crying.

Draco and Lucius looked apalled as to what to do to comfort a crying saviour. Narcissa, however, too pity and hugged him gently. "It's okay, Harry, it's okay..." she crooned, in her best efforts to make him feel better.

"It's NOT okay!" said Harry through his tears. He looked up into Narcissa's apprehensive eyes. "You...you didn't have that dream!"

Lucius perked up. Dream? He could help with dreams! Maybe now he could gain the obviously emotionally unstable boy's trust, once and for all.

"Harry...do you want to explain this dream? Maybe I can help." said Lucius. Harry glared at him.

"You didn't see them die, Lucius." And with that, Harry stormed off. To his room, of course.

Lucius was too shocked by Harry's words to notice that Harry had called him by his name.

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Oh dear god. My sister's friends are over (they're all eight...ugh) and they're frickin' LOUD.**

**Ad they just stole Bandit off my lap, where she was sleeping. -pouts and sulks-**

**But if Bandit were here, she'd mew at you to 'pwease review'.**

**DO WHAT THE KITTY SAYS! MUAHAHAHAHA!**

**-cough- Just a suggestion. :)**


	9. Chapter 9 : Long Story

**I'm so freaked right now. I told the guy I liked that I liked him...and he didn't say anything...I'm scared about that. AHHH! And he's one my damned BUS! Oh, crap...tomorrow...**

**let's hope I don't die of embarassment, cuz none of you will get to see the new chapters...**

**Whoeee! Lots of lovely reviews! Thank you all! This chapter is for everyone who reviewed, cuz you guys are all awesome!**

**Bandit's happy too :)**

**Before I forget, does anyone even listen to the songs I picked for the chapter? Does anyone even bother anymore...? Meh. Listen to me for once and check some of them out, cuz they're all very good songs.**

**Mood-setter: 'Head On Collision' by New Found Glory. Lovely!**

**Where We Left Off:**

_"Harry...do you want to explain this dream? Maybe I can help." said Lucius. Harry glared at him. _

_"You didn't see them die, Lucius." And with that, Harry stormed off. To his room, of course._

_Lucius was too shocked by Harry's words to notice that Harry had called him by his name._

**Chapter Nine: Long Story**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry stomped into his room, ten full minutes later, after finding his way through the vast mansion. How dare Lucius! How dare he make him remember what had happened, so long ago...

Harry shuddered in the chilly room. _Oh, the Malfoys can afford fancy schmany rooms, but not heating. Bastards._

He thought of showering, but decided against it. At this point, he'd willingly drown, and being in the shower wouldn't help anything right now. He'd rather sleep.

Speaking of which, Harry stumbled over to his bed. _Damn, it's dark in here._ He crawled up onto the green comforter and lay his head on the fluffy pillows, forgetting his glasses were still on. Within minutes, he was asleep.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Lucius stormed up the stairs, with Draco on his heels. They were heading for Severus' room, maybe Harry was in there...

"Father? Is this whole Potter staying here thing completely necessary? I mean, we could just stick him in a nice room in the Leaky Cauldron, couldn't we? It'd be more sensible than this!"

"Draco. Stop blathering. You know you were as worried as your mother and I were when Severus brought Harry to us after he burnt himself. Pretty badly, might I add."

Draco winced. Of course he'd been worried. Probably more so than his parents. But, as a true Malfoy would've, Draco kept his emotions to himself. _I shouldn't even care that Potter got hurt.I've no idea why I feel so protective of Scarhead. Although that scar is kind of cute, if you see it from the right angle. _Draco froze in his tracks. _Holy shit, did I really think that about Harry? DAMMIT, POTTER, YOU AND YOUR SCAR! Damn you and your hot ass too!_ Draco's eyes widened. _DAMMIT!_ Then ran off after his father, who hadn't noticed Draco's tiny absence. In fact he was muttering to himself.

"-of course, if he will let me help him, then this whole schpeal will end and Harry and Draco can get this over with!"

"What, Father?" Draco smirked. _...do I want to know what's he muttering about myself and Potter?_

Perhaps, for the first time in years - or maybe even ever - Lucius flushed. "Nothing son. Nothing you need to concern yourself with at the moment."

"Oh. Sure." Draco glared at his father. Damn him, and damn his secrets too.

Not even a minute later, they reached Severus' black-clad room. "Okay, Draco, if he's in there, and we startle him, he'll release accidental magic. Vampire's can become quite powerful if caught unawares."

"No shit, Lucius. You think I'd know, being a vampire myself." Draco paused. "And you're talking about Harry as if he were a wild animal evading capture."

"Yes, yes, of course." said Luiuc absentmindedly. All he was thinkning baout was catching Harry in the act, and helping his obviously developing problem with fires.

"On the count of three. One. Two.."

Draco slammed the door open. Lucius glared at him. "What? You said catch him unawares."

"Damn straight you did!" shouted Severus.

Draco screamed. _Oh, Merlin, I didn't need to see that!_

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry turned and tossed in his restless sleep. He was afraid, under the surface, that he'd have another dream like the last one. And that was what was keeping him awake - subconciously. (**A/N. but i'm just going around in circles here.**) Point was, Harry wasn't sleeping too benevolently.

Unbeknownst to Harry, the teen began crying in his troubled sleep.

_**.XDXHX.**_

He had been awakened.

He had felt the pull. The attraction, of Harry's distress.

Draco rose out his bed, hours later, when it ws no more than five A.M. He knew he had to help him somehow. He just had to get there.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Draco slithered to Harry's door, trying to be as quiet as possible.

That small task wasn't easy, especially when Draco heard a quiet sob coming from Harry's room. He very nearly jumped out of his skin, the sound taking him by surprise.

Draco peeked one silver eye around the edge of the doorway. He could just see Harry thrashing about in his bed, obviously crying in his sleep. _Poor Harry._

He slipped into the scarred teen's temporary abode, and stopped, afraid of waking Harry up. When Harry proved that he didn't know Draco was in the room, he stepped forward, and winced as Harry let out a particualrly heartfelt sob, screaming "Mum!"

Draco turned and scowled at the door. It snapped shut and locked itself by the force of Draco's vampiric concentration power. For extra safe measures, Draco cast a silencing charm on it, using his wand this time. He never went anywhere without it.

Once he was satisfied that the door was safely locked, Draco turned around and gasped. Harry had stopped thrashing wildly, and it seemed as if the entire atmosphere of the room had changed. Through the wondows, it looked as if it were a cloudy morning, it seemed as if the very air were blue and filled with dread, yet refreshingly opaque. The curtains billowed ever so slightly, making Draco believe that the window had been opened beforehand. The room itself looked blue; everything from the walls to the bed had a deep blue tinge to it.

But most disconcerting of all were Harry's emerald orbs, peering right at Draco, waiting for him to make his move. "Harry?"

He nodded. "Draco." The blonde could still see the tears in Harry's perfect eyes, and they were threatening to spill over onto the already tear-stained pillow. Draco quietly stepped over ot the bed and held his hand out. Without a moment's hesitation, Harry reached for his out-stretched hand. Softy, Harry tugged on Draco's hand, granting him permission to lay.

Draco allowed himself to be gently pulled. He climbed up, and kneeled on the bed. Harry looked up at him, and whimpered.

_Does he think I'm going to hurt him? _thought Draco. Instead of doing that, however, he straightened himself against Harry's trembling body, and pulled the heavy covers over their shoulders. Draco reached his arms around Harry, and hugged him close. Harry allowed himself to be held, and placed his hands on Draco's lean shoulders and gripped them. Then Harry commenced to cry those crystal tears, and Draco rubbed his back soothingly.

"I...I don't know i-if I should tell you, Draco." More tears, more sobbing.

"Harry, you can tell me anything. Please, explain this to me. I _want_ to comfort you."

Harry heaved a huge sob that racked his whole body. Draco held him closer and Harry laid his head on Draco's warm chest. Draco laid his head on the pillow, above Harry's own _cabeza_, and sighed. Draco looked to the stars - though he couldn't see them - then looked down at Harry's ebony head. This was who he was bound to for eternity. Oh, how quaint.

"I'll tell you about the d-dream I had last n-night." Draco nodded, although Harry couldn't see him, and he began to tell the tale.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Wow."

"I know." Harry had ceased sobbing, and now settled for looking mildly ashamed of his tearful outburst. He wouldn't look Draco in the eye, not for long at least.

"How...how could he? Just...torture them like that. It seems too evil, even for him."

"Don't remind me."

"Hey. Harry. Why won't you look me in the eye? Are you ashamed?"

Draco barely saw the minisicule nod of consent Harry made. "It's okay to cry once in awhile, Harry. It's healthy to vent your emotions like that."

Harry peered up at Draco, emerald meeting silver, and grinned crookedly. "Too late for the healthy version of venting, Draco. To late for me, at least." Draco's eyes grew cold and hard. "What do you mean, Harry?"

Harry caught his mistake. _Crap_. "Nothing, Draco. Nothing at all."

Draco stared coolly at Harry for a few more seconds, then sighed. "Fine...I'll take your word for it. But Merlin help me if I catch you." Harry grinned reassuredly. "I promise I won't do anything."

"Good." Draco kissed Harry softly on the forehead. "Goodnight."

Harry was already snoozing. Draco smiled meekly and hugged Hary tighter. _I think I can live with this._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Lucius paced while Narcissa sulked. "Where are they?" seemed to be the main question at the breakfast table the next day, and Harry and Draco both had yet to show.

"They're probably just sleeping in late today, Lucius. Relax, and sit down. They'll show up sooner or later."

"Sooner rather than later, Mother."

Both the elder Mafloys twisted their necks to the wide dining room entrance. There stood Harry and Draco both, in companoinable silence. It seemed as if they'd come to a truce.

"Boys! Where have you been? We were just going to send the house elf up to get you." snapped Lucius. Sure, he was nice when he wanted to be, but when he was hungry, he became extremely impatient.

(**A/N. just like me. XD**.)

Draco smirked. "We slept late."

"I told you so." said Narcissa smugly.

"So I see." answered Lucius impatiently.

"Can we eat now? I'm ravenous." interrupted Harry. Everyone looked at him strangely, as if he weren't there in the first place. Then they came to.

"Oh. Of course, Harry. Take a seat boys."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Half an hour later, the Malfoys plus one Potter were sitting nervously in the parlor, awaiting the pending conversation.

Narcissa was the first to break the ice. "Lucius, dear, may we hurry this up? I have a formal engagement I must be at no later than noon."

"Of course, dear." Lucius exhaled a breath he didn't even kow he was holding. _Great. He seemed so comfortable at breakfast, but I don't want to get Harry on edge too soon._

Said boy was staring at the bookshelf to his left, and seemed to be concentrating on not making a snippy remark about the whole ordeal before him.

"Let's begin." Harry averted his attention to Lucius when he spoke. "Since we got sidetracked last time,-" Harry had the good grace to look down, ashamed "-I think it appeaseable that we start from the beginning.

"Centuries ago, specifically the sixteenth century, the Malfoy ancestors trekked over from Romania. In those days, it was known as Translyvania. They's just escaped the wrath of Vlad the Impaler, although they were part of the royal family, and were seeking a place to start a new life. They found England suitable, and built this very mansion we're sitting in."

Harry looked around. This place didn't look like it had been around since the 1500s.

"Yes, doubtful, seeing as how many times this old place has been refurbished. Anyways, the ancestors who had journeyed over lived in tranquility for about fifty years. Then all hell broke loose. A body was found in the gutter, near where the hierarchy of society lived. Spectators pronounced him an unfortunate drunk, but the doctors had a bit more sense. They bled him, to test for alcohol poisoning. Problem was, there was no blood to test." Lucius sighed. Harry looked transfixed.

"Though no one pointed fingers at my ancestors, inside the clan, they knew they were to blame. The question was, which young vampire commited the crime? Months later, after three more bodies had been found, the youngest immigrant, Vladimir, confessed to his elders as the murderer. For all four crimes. He 'couldn't control his thirst,' he stated, 'surely you can understand?' He pleaded. He begged forgiveness. Finally, the elders acquitted him, on account of annoyance." Draco smirked at this.

"After being acquitted, Vladimir ran off with a servant girl. You see, Harry, they came from Romania in rags, but they harbored gold in their purses. They used that money to build the mansion, and hire servants. Anyways, the young murderer ran off, and returned a year later carrying an heir in his arms. The slave girl died during birth, he said. No one believed him, they thought that he'd drained her of her blood, but they couldn't accuse him, for he was holding the one and only heir to the Malfoy throne."

"Wait. You said your ancestors we're related to the real Dracula. If they were in imperial standing, then why'd they leave? Wouldn't they be safe from his anger?" interrupted Harry.

"Technically, yes, they should be. But Vlad, or the real Dracula, as you say, had, by that time, lost all sense of self. He'd gone mad, you see. No one was safe from his wrath, not even his own family."

"Yikes."

"Yikes is quite the understatement, Harry." Narcissa interjected. Hary jumped when he'd heard her; he'd forgot she was there.

"Vladimir became, from that time on, the ruler of the Malfoys. No one could deny his charm, charisma, or appearance. We have him to thank for establishing the modern Malfoy status in society. Though he was, essentially, a good person - helping the serfs, giving money to the poor, being a fair leader - he had his dark sides too. At night, under cover of darkness, he left the sanctity of the mansion to find fresh prey. He favored young males, and they said he seduced them in the many pubs of London. They'd no idea who he was; he concealed himself with vampiric magic. The unfortunate young men were given pleasure, promised love - then they were slaughtered. The bodies would turn up everywhere; in gutters, in rivers, even in basments of the wealthy. People began gossiping, and, eventually, the Malfoy king was blamed."

"Then he was executed, right?" Harry guessed. Lucius smiled wryly. "Not exactly. He was put before a jury and a trial of the elders was held , and he was declared innocent. He ruled the Malfoy family once again."

"I'm confused. Why would the people of London be concerned about the Malfoy king? He wasn't ruling them." Draco interjected.

"Ah, but by that time, the Malfoys had become so powerful, Vladimir had been picked for king of the London area." Draco's mouth formed an 'oh' of understanding.

"The family began to resent him. They sided with the people of London, the evidence all added up to Vladimir being the culprit. The crowds of London revolted against him. There was a revolution, and, then, Harry, he was executed. Beheaded, by a rusty sword, as was punishment for murderers those days. The people rejoiced. And, though no one had known at the time leading up to the scandal, Vladimir had been practicing black magic for a time; he'd became confident enough to put a curse on the Malfoy family. The curse made sure that children of the Malfoy clan were not born vampires, but that they came into an inheritance, one of the most excrutiating pain, on their seventeenth birthday. Draco here has already had his painful initiation." Draco winced as he remembered the rivers of pain and the emotions of his inheritance. It had gone on for a week, and during that time, no one could calm him, no one could sedate him, no one but his mate.

"Part of the curse was also that vampires of the Malfoy family were doomed to have mates. Sometimes they worked out for the better." Here Luciuc snuck a glance at his wife, and she smiled back. "But oftentimes, the matchs were destined to kill, maim, or do any other kind of physical harm to both parties. The latter prospect happened so many times during the years that the Malfoy population dwindled dangerously. We have never been able to rebuild ourselves to that status of power again, and probably never will. We are only powerfull here because so many people fear us.

"The worst part of the curse was placed on the crowds of screaming onlookers that had stood before Vladimir as he was being led to the executioner. The people of London are now destined to have a vampirism plague, every four hundred years. And, when the curse takes affect, the vampires cannot control their actions, and must kill so many innocent humans to survive. And that time, when all hell and chaos will break loose, has been alloted into mere months. Three, to be exact.

"I pray to whatever god is listening that you, Harry, and my son, will have been properly mated by then. Both of you combined will be able to control the entire flow of the curse this time around. The fate of the entire vampiric world resides in your palms."

Harry hadn't been able to get past the 'mate' part as of yet. Drcao was just as shocked. Both tuned in their seats, and stared at each other. _Oh, shit_

_**.XDXHX.**_

**How about them bananas? Enjoy that little discovery? I'll bet you did.**

**Remember...review and updates come so much faster!**

**Oh, and Bandit says hello!**


	10. Chapter 10 : This Long Lost Memory

**Wow. Four days since an update...usually I make you suffer only three...but I forgot this time...oops. :(**

**Do you all hate me for taking forever to say that Draco & Harry shall mate? I already knew that was gonna happen...but none of ya'll did! HAHAHAHAHA cough **

**Thank you for eveyr last single bloody review! They make me happppy. :) Also, I'm glad that my 'mood-setters'(for lack of a better name) arenot going to waste! Yay! Moving on...**

**This chapter's mood-setter : 'Savin' Me' by NIckleback.**

**LOVE THAT SONG!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Ten: Memories of a Harmful Past**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry sat uneasily on his bed. It was about one-ish in the afternoon, and the sun was shining through the window in his room. He glared at the beams of light; he didn't feel very cheery.

And with good reason! He'd just found out he had to be mated to Draco-Freaking-Malfoy, for the love of Merlin! Harry scrunched his eyes shut against the bright light. _Though, I wouldn't mind...ah, fuck._ His eyes snapped open at the last thought. _What the hell is with me?_

Harry looked around, and, seeing no one, pulled a knife from under his pillow. He looked at the door for a few minutes, and after two whole minutes without seeing or hearing anything, placed the knife just so on his arm. He gazed at the trail or red that lay in the knife's wake.

Red. What a wonderful color.

Harry winced as the knife went deeper than intended. _Shit._ He dropped the bloodied knife on the bedspread,and grappled for his wand, which lay on the tiny dresser next to his bed. Grasping it, he whispered an incantation he'd made up himself, and the blood disappeared. All that remained was a faint red line. Harry sighed. _I wouldn't have to do this if I could just fucking COPE._

All this horror, the bloodlust, the need to hurt, had begun when Harry was only seven. The horrendous people he was forced to call relatives had abused him. It was usually Petunia who did the emotional part of killing, insulting his heirtage left and right, commenting rudely on his late parents' lifestyles. Dudley partook in this travesty by screwing up Hary mentally. A backwards comment about this, a snarky quip on that.

And Vernon, of course, took care of hurting Harry physically. Beating him, starving him, anything to pound the magic out of him. Vernon would, in his spare time, walk around the small house and say to anyone and everyone, "When I'm through beating the magic out of The Boy, then I can put him to good use as a live-in maid!" This harsh comment was usually followed by a cruel laugh. Harry cringed at the memory.

After Vernon would beat him up - usually for the most menial little things, like forgetting to put the cap back on the toothpaste - he'd barely have enough energy to pad painfully to his minisicule bedroom under the stairs. He'd sit miserably on his tiny matress, with the hole-y and scraggly bedsheet, and cry. Harry wasn't ashamed to say, or rather, think it. He'd cried as if he knew he'd never cry again.

_The last time I cried was...OK, so what if it **was** last night? Fuck it all! I wouldn't be crying if I didn't have the bloody dream in the first place!_

Harry looked at his arm again. The scarring was slightly lighter. Now it looked just like the rest of his arm. And the other limb, too. They were both covered in faint pink scars, all placed there for many different reasons. Any reason at all was found on his arms. A lost homeowrk, perhaps, or something much, much bigger. Harry glanced at the elaborate drawing of a dog - Padfoot - on his lower left arm.

He'd done that after Sirius fell through the veil.

He would have liked to say that he'd only started cutting himself after that happened, but Harry didn't want to lie. He'd been doing this act for years...since he was nine.

Harry sighed. He could remember his first cut, clear as a bell, in his otherwise fogged mind.

_He was washing dishes for Petunia; or The Tyrant, as he'd 'affectionately' started calling her. She couldn't be bothered to do them. 'I have a headache, Boy, so if I hear ONE dish falling, I'll make sure you get a beating you will NEVER forget!' _

_He plunged his unmarred arm in the scalding hot water at once, scared of her words. Petunia nodded as he withdrew his hand, which was bright pink. 'If it hurts, Boy, it's cleaning.'_

_Harry pulled a face at her back when she walked out of the room. He stuck his hand back in the water, his other hand holding a sponge, and pulled out a plate. He sighed as he placed it in the adjoining sink, waiting to be rinsed and dried. The washing continued for a good four minutes, without any kind of distraction, other than Harry humming a sad tune softly. _

_Then, he plunged his sore, pink hand back into the still-scalding hot water, and withdrew it with a cry of shock and pain. Harry looked at his palm. It was bleeding profusely, and was beginning to drip onto the kitchen floor. Harry panicked as he turned on the water, which was unfortunately, still running only hot water.Harry yelped and he pulled his hand quickly back, and started to cry. Tears joined blood on the floor as they fell mercilessly off Harry's young face. The blood was spreading slowly on the floor, getting in the cracked linoleum. Harry shut off the water wiht his good hand, wrapped his other in a dark purple towel that had been sitting on the stovetop, and grabbed a handful of paper towels. He proceeded to mop up the blood, using whatever he thought would get the impending stain out._

_The Vernon came in._

_"Boy!" he roared. "What the hell are you doing on the floor? Are the dishes done? It doesn't look like it! Get your ungrateful ass up off the bloody floor and FINISH!" Then he kicked Harry so he fell onto the sticky floor. Harry grimaced as he smelled the mixture of the metallic blood with the soapy cleaner._

_Vernon saw the face and shouted, "Don't give me that face, Boy! And why are you-" he stopped. "-bleeding?"_

_"I...I cut myself on something accidentally, uncle." Vernon reached into the water in the sink, and pulled out an extremely sharp knife. "You mean this, you clumsy fool?" Harry nodded weakly._

_"Useless child." he said. He threw the knife onto the floor next to Harry. The knife gleamed wickedly at him, and Harry felt sick to his stomach just looking at it. That was what made him bleed so._

_Vernon was muttering angrily as he walked out of the room, leaving Harry to clean everything up._

_**.XDXHX.**_

_Later, at about midnight, Harry stole downstairs. He glanced around nervously. No one. Good. He padded quietly over to the drawer where knives were kept. He opened it, so slow it was almost painful, and grasped the knife that had deviously cut him. He held it up into the moonlight. It glinted like the eyes of a madman, waiting for his next victim. Harry placed it on his wrist, imagining what it would feel like to harm oneself like this. He scraped the knife against his previously unmarked skin. A red line glared at him against his white skin. Harry cringed as a tear was mixed into the bloody pool on his wrist. It stung._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry could remember that sting, even as he sat in the Malfoy guest room. Clear as a blow to the head. And the aftermath was exacly the same. The fogged memory, the dull, throbbing pain.

Harry traced a tiny heart into his wrist with the knife. It bled without mercy.

Red. What a wonderful color.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Draco stared up at his ceiling helplessly. He couldn't sleep. Why the hell was he even trying?

All he could think about was Harry.

The outbursts. The righteous anger. The profound intelligence. Just everything about the ebony-haired man was...intriguing, enimatic, mysterious. Words weren't enough.

_Why am I thinking about Harry so fucking much? Does it have to do with this mating rubbish or some cruel prank? Damn whoever's idea this was..._

_Oh. Right. It was fucking Vladimir._

_Damn him._

Draco rolled over. Now his comforter was messed up and twisted around his legs. He stared at the window's curtains, which were lovely pieces of black lace suspended from the ceiling so as to cover the whole of the window, it reaching down to the floor and all. The moonlight filtered through the lacey pattern, making shapes on the white carpeted floor. Draco groaned. He'd never go to sleep at this rate.

_Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?_

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Oh...poor Harry. I didn't like writing this chapter.**

**But, on a less _red_ note, let's start a game! When you read each chapter from now on, send a review with the name & artist of a song whihc you believe to be in that chapter.**

**Sounds confusing, I know. But all you have to do is review the chapter with the right answer. I'll announce the first couple winners in the next chapter. Here's a small chance to be famous!...even though it's only in a crappy story.**

**Search for the answer & review my lovelies:)**


	11. Chapter 11 : Surprise

**Hello!**

**Well I hope you like this chapt- SQUIRREL! ON! MY! LAWN! OH MY GOD ITS GONNA EAT ME!**

**cough**

**Um...sorry...my other side got out...my 'Too-Hyper-To-Think' side...beware. smiles sheepishly**

**Thia chapter's mood-setter : 'Work' by Jimmy Eat World.**

**The game is, I'll put a simple one-liner from a song or the name of a song in the context of a chapter. If you can pick it out, tell me in a review, and the next chapter is dedicated to the first person to tell me! The line/name can be ANYWHERE in a chapter...it could even be the title! Everyone from Britney Spears(no matter how much I despise her) to Sum41to Marilyn Manson will be used...I suggest you start studying!**

**P.S. THERE COULD BE MORE THAN ONE LINE/NAME OF ANY SONG IN ONE CHAPPIE!**

**_Dedicated To_: FieryAries313 AND AngelikRebel **

**Sorry about spelling mistakes**

**Chapter Eleven : Surprise**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Lucius paced in his study on the first floor of the Malfoy mansion. He did that alot lately. Pacing, worrying, mainly about Harry. The condition he was in; it was shocking, to say the least. Especially when it came to Harry's mental health. How dare those wretched muggles treat him like that?

If Lucius ever had the _pleasure_ to meet them...

Well, they'd be sorry.

Lucius ceased his pacing more a few moments while he examined the tapestry on the far wall. Normally, in any old Pure-blooded family, there was always a tapestry of some sort hanging on a wall. The Blacks' had one, and he knew the Snapes' did, as well. _Well, only on his mother's side..._

But this particular tapestry was nothing like the others. It didn't only show the names of forgotten dead people in a fancy script. Nor did it just go back only a few generations. This tapestry went all the way back to Vladimir. His name was at the top, being the founder of the Malfoy's status in society.

Lucius studied the tapestry for a few more minutes, but was interrupted by a voice to his right.

"Lucius?"

"Yes, Severus? What is it you ask of me this time?"

Snape sneered. "Get off your almighty high horse, Lucius. Not everyone wants a favor of you." Luicus whipped around, his long blonde hair practically crackling with unspent magic. Severus paused.

"I see it is near the full moon."Severus stated snidely. Lucius stared at him. _What the hell does he know? He's not the vampire._ "Your temper is a dead give-away, Lucius. I know you always get edgy come full moon."

Lucius crossed his arms impatiently. "Well, what do you want? I have business to attend to."

"Lies, all of it. If you had business to attend to, there would be papers on your desk, and books missing from the shelves." Snape smirked.

"And you call Granger a know-it-all!" Sanpe's eyes lost all mirth at that particularly _loud_ statement. "I would prefer it if you would stop your chatter of Ms. Granger."

"Oh, did I hit a soft spot? My, my, my, does our little Sevie have a teeny crush?" Lucius crooned. He loved making Severus sweat. It was a great way to pass the time.

Snape's face, normally lacking of any hue, was turning a bright red. "I admire her intelligence, is all." Then he swept out of the study, his robes billowing out behind his retreating figure. Lucius smirked.

_One point for me._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Hermoine Granger threw her quill down in outrage. Why was she even bothering with this stupid assignment? It wouldn't help her in the long run. _It isn't like I need to know about wolfsbane if I'm planning on being an author!_

She stared down at her paper. She's spilled some ink on the upper left corner. _Damn._ She mopped it up, then reread her essay. Stellar work, as usual, but Hermoine just didn't want to be the girl everyone knew as quote, '_The Gryffindor Bookworm_'endqoute She grimaced at the thought.

She had a plan. She could still be a good student, but just be...relaxed about her performance and appearnce. She didn't want to dress in standard fashion anymore. No more gray knee length skirts for her!

No, from here on out, it was all jeans. They were just so much more comfortable than wearing a skirt day in and day out. Plus, she didn't have to deal with the ogling of passerby at her rather shapely legs. It wasn't her fault she was blessed with good genes.

But she would prefer to wear black. She'd actually come to like the color.

It represented silence to her. Sweet, precious quiet, all for her.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Draco rushed around his room, looking for a proper shirt to wear. So far he had jeans laid out on his bed. But he wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing. He just hoped the plan worked.

He just wanted Harry to be happy, at least for a little bit. If only to see him smile..._Maybe a pink shirt will make him laugh? _Draco grimaced as he pulled out a pink shirt with a collar on it. He looked at it digustedly, then threw it to the back of his closet. _I may be gay, but the day I wear pink is the day Voldemort comes to Hogwarts wearing a tutu._

_So I shouldn't have to worry._

"This will have to do," he mumbled when he saw a dark blue tee shirt, laying at his feet. "It's better than being naked." He pulled the shirt over his head, which messed up his white blonde hair.

He had just walked out of his room when his father called for him. "Draco! Come here!"

"Ah, shit, what'd I do now?" he grumbled. He set off down the stairs, humming a tune.

"Yes, sir? How may I help you today?" Lucius frowned. "Draco, you are not a muggle sales clerk. Please refrain from saying that ever again." Said boy grinned crookedly at his father, and saluted. "Sir, yes sir!"

Lucius grimaced. "And nor are you some type of military commmander."

Draco's face became serious when he saw Lucius's face contorted in worry. "What is it? Is it about Harry?" Malfoy senior nodded slowly.

"Well, don't hold it all in! Tell me! I must know everything about him!" Draco's voice took on a panicky note at the end of his statement, and he looked extremely anxious, his eyes turning a darker gray.

"Draco, calm yourself. I just asked you here to check up on him. We really must keep a keener eye on the boy. He's becoming quite the menace to himself. Also, tell him to come to the dining room. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Draco nodded and walked - quickly - over to Harry's room.

He'd do anything to help him.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry lay on his bed, watching the curtains fly over the floor. A nice, cool breeze throughtout the kept him cool and refreshed, yet he was still full of adrenaline.

He needed to release some energy, desperately. Otherwise, _I might 'hurt' myself._ He smirked.

Didn't any of the Malfoys, who were supposed to be intelligent creatures, see he needed this? To release some pent-up energy, to see his own blood staining his already marred arm? _They just don't get it, do they? They didn't see him fall through...never to come back._

The previously refreshing breeze took on a bitter clip as it blew throughout Harry's room, making him shiver slightly. _Crap, I forgot. Don't get to emotional, you can control the air around you...whatever._ At the last word, the breeze around him reached higher speed, making everything flutter about him. Papers flew above his head, even a couple shirts fluttered by. Harry smirked at the miniature chaos he'd created.

_A fun thing to control, air is._

A knock sounded on Harry's door. It reverberated throughout the boy, making him quiver with supressed fear. _Shit, I'm caught._ A voice came through the door.

"Harry? Are...you okay? I'm hearing noises I don't exactly like in there."

_It's Draco!_ Fear and excitement raced through Harry, making his heart beat faster, until he almost couldn't sit still anymore. His leg twitched; should he let the blonde boy in?

At the increase in heartbeat, the objects flying through the air, previously in tiny patterns circling the area of the room, flew faster, crashing into each other, some landing on the canopy of Harry's bed, still moving. It was a very eerie sight, looking up.

Harry shook himself and pinched the back of his hand to quell his heart. It gradually slowed, and he regained his normal beat. Harry stood, but his legs felt weak, and he couldn't take more than a few steps towards the door before he had to stop.

"Harry?" Draco now pounded on the door, eager to be let in to help his ebony-haired mate-to-be.

"Let me in!"

"I'm working on it, my legs are kind of asleep."

"Well, wake them up!" Draco said.

"Oh, gee, what should I say to them? 'Wake up, my limbs! Time to let Draco in!'?"

"Whatever works for 'em." Harry smirked. _He's mouthy today._ Harry reached the door, his legs finally starting to wake up. He opened up the lightweight door, only to see Draco fuming slightly. "Finally! What in Hell's bells where you doing in there?" Harry looked confused.

"Hell has bells?"

"I guess so. Come on, I want to show you something in the dining room."

Both boys left Harry's room, walking in unison. Before they'd walked more than fifteen steps, however, Draco pulled a green bandana out of his jeans pocket. "Wait. I have to put this on you."

Harry frowned. "What for?" Draco smiled reassuringly.

"You'll see." Draco wrapped the bandana around Harry's head. "CRAP! I'm blind!" Harry said. Draco laughed. "No you're not. Stop being a drama queen!"

"How will I get to the dining room wihtout falling down the stairs and breaking my neck?"

Draco grabbed Harry's hand and held it softly. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen. I'll guide you."

_**.XDXHX.**_

_Never again!_, thought Narcissa as she set up some colorful streamers from the high ceiling using her wand. _How dare Lucius make me go to that muggle store? Muggle! What's wrong with the wizard version?_

Finished with the streamers, which were every color of the rainbow, Narcissa started putting a festive-feeling silver tablecloth on the large dining table. After that chore was finished, she floated light blue plates and odd-shaped glasses onto the table, setting them up just so. As soon as she was done with that, Narcissa magically filled what seemed like hundreds of balloons. Some she let float to the ceiling, some she tied to chairs and furniture. A week ago, she made a centerpiece for the table. It was a small fountain, with three tiers on it, and a few handfuls of shiny black pebbles distributed evenly throughout the tiers. With a flick of the wrist, the fountain spurted water, and it fell from tier to tier until it got to the bottom one, and the water went back up through a tube. _Ingenious, really_, thought Narcissa. _And I thought most Muggles were stupid._

For the finishing touch, Narcissa laid out some of Harry's favorite foods - strawberries, pretzels, and these little orange square-things he called 'Cheez-Its' - in some green glass bowls in the middle of the table.

"Hm...needs a little sparkle." Narcissa thought aloud. "I know!" Taking her wand back out of her pocket, she swished it at the floor, and a small amount of silver and gold confetti glittered back at her. Satisfied, she waved her wand at the table, and the same affect occurred. "Perfect!"

"Oh!" said Narcissa. "I almost forgot! I have to check Harry's present." She walked over to an unused closet by the head of the table that was usually reserved for old china form family members. She opened the door, sand seeing that the present was okay, shut the door quietly. Harry couldn't be hearing where his presents were!

Stepping away form the closet, Narcissa looked around. _I hope Harry likes this._

Lucuis walked into the dining room, a little out of breath. "Hello, dear. The decorations look lovely." Narcissa smiled. "Thank you, Lucius. Shall we sit or stand while we wait for the boys?"

He leaned against a wall, getting his breath back in order. "I'm fine here, but you can sit if you wish."

"Mother? Father?" said Draco.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Draco, I don't like walking when I can't see anything!"

"I know, but we're almost there. A few more steps, at the very most. I promise."

"Fine. I believe you."

Upon reaching the dining room, Draco was amazed at his mother's decorating skills. Everything was pristine, yet relaxed...just like Narcissa herself.

"Mother? Father? We're here!"

Draco brought the blind-folded Harry, who was playing the comedian with outstretched arms waving about, to an area right before the table, in perfect view of the fountain. Narcissa and Lucius stood at the other end of the table, smiling.

"Ready to see again, Harry?" Draco asked. He nodded. "Yes, please!"

"One...Two...Three!" At the last syllable, Draco whipped off the blindfold.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" the Malfoy clan shouted. Harry's mouth dropped open. "Oh my god..."

Draco grabbed Harry's hand again, and led him the the head seat. "Aren't you surprised, Harry?"

"Surprised doesn't even begin to cover it! I forgot my own birthday!" Harry buried his head in his hands, laughing. "I'm an idiot!" Everyone joined him, laughter echoing throughout the room.

"Who decorated it?" asked Harry, once the laughter died down. Narcissa beamed. "I did. Do you like it?"

"I love it! Thank you!"

_**.XDXHX.**_

Half an hour later, Harry was still sitting, laughing his head off at the jokes circling the table. _I never knew the Malfoys were so funny...or even nice. _The food in the little glass bowls was long gone, having been eaten by the handful by Harry.

Lucius lept out of his seat. "I forgot something!" He ran inot the adjoining kitchen.

"Wait. I didn't know there was a kitchen right there!" said Harry. Draco and Narcissa laughed.

"There's many things you don't know, Harry..."whispered Draco in a low, raspy voice. Harry laughed.

"Everyone sing!" said Lucius, who had come back into the dinign room, carrying a huige cake with many candles on it. Narcissa and Draco complied to Lucius' demand, and sand 'Happy Birthday' to Harry as he stared at the cake being set down before him. When they finished, Harry looked up and smiled waveringly.

"Is it possible to smile, laugh, and cry at the same time?" he asked.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Minutes later, the cake was three quarters gone, and the Malfoys plus one Harry were completely full.

Lucius sighed. "Did you have a nice birthday, Harry?"

Said boy grinned back, clearly happy. "It was my best one yet."

"That's lovely news, Harry," stated Narcissa.

"WAIT!" said Draco. "We forgot presents!" Narcissa gasped. "Oh, Merlin, we did! Lucuius, help me get them."

Lucius looked at her. "I'm not moving from my spot."

"Then how will you get them out?" said Draco.

"Are you or are you not a wizard, Draco?" His mouth fromed a small 'Oh' of understanding. "Magic! Sorry, forgot about that..."

While Draco was figuring it out, Lucius was using his wand as a director for the presents that were floating from another room. Harry's eyes widened; each present was bigger than the last. Finally. Lucius put his wand, leaving a total of twenty-seven presents sitting next to, or in front of, Harry.

"Well, go on Harry! Open them!" said Draco.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry finished opening his gifts a total of twenty minutes later, Harry had a pile of new items by him. Said pile consisted of ten shirts in his favorite color; black. Some were one solid color, some had sarcastic sayings on the front. He also had seven pairs of jeans, two different colognes that actually smelled good, Five CDs form his favorite bands, and three pairs of sneakers from Converse.

"I love my gifts, thank you so much!" Hary kept saying over and over.

"We're not done yet, Harry. One last gift." Narcissa said. "Brig it on!" said Harry. Draco laughed.

Narcissa stood up and wlaked over to the closet. She bent over, picked something up, but didn't turn around. "Ready, Harry?"

"Yes!" Narcissa turned around, a sleeping black and white kitten in her arms. Harry gasped.

"You got me a kitten!" Lucius smiled. "Yes. I thought you should have something to take care of, and it would take away any time you have to hurt yourself."

Harry didn't hear the last part, however, having run over to Narcissa. "May I hold him?"

"Her. The kitten's a her." Harry smiled. "May I hold HER, please?"

"Of course, Harry. She's your pet, after all." she said, handing the little fluffball over. Harry squealed in delight. "She's so tiny..." he breathed.

"To be expected. She is only seven weeks old, of course."

The kitten woke up, blinking big blue eyes, and, seeing Harry, mewed questionly. "It's okay, little girl, I'm not going to hurt you." whispered Harry. The kitten mewed again, this time softer, and sniffed Harry's chin. After she did that, she stretched and fell asleep again. Harry smiled. "I love her. Thank you."

The kitten purred as Harry scratched behind her ears. "I think I'll name you...Bingo." he whispered to her. He looked up, and seeing the Malfoys watching him with smiles and soft eyes, felt his eyes tear up. "Thank you..."

"Why don't you show Bingo her new room? I'll ask some house-elves to take your gifts up."

'Good-nights' echoed in the room. "'Night. Once again, thank you."

Harry walked slowy and carefully to his room, trying to avoid jostling Bingo in her sleep. He reached his room and settled Bingo on his bed, kicking off his shoes. He fell gracefully onto the bed, waking the kitten. "Sorry, Bingo." She mewed at him and settled under his chin, purring. Harry was asleep within minutes, a smile on his face.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Draco lay in bed an hour later. He was smiling, remembering Harry's face when Narcissa brought her out.

_He looked so happy..._ Draco turned over in his bed.

Even though he just saw him an hour ago, he couldn't help but think, _Where'd you go? I miss you so..._

_**.XDXHX.**_

**FINALLY! A happy Harry! Mind you...it won't last forver...**

**I typed a nice, LONG chapter for everyone. I better get some nice reviews:)**

**And, sad news, but I can only update once a week now. What with school, babysitting...yadda yadda yadda... That day will most likely be either a Saturday or Sunday. Keep a look out!**


	12. Chapter 12 : Didn't Expect You

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own PetsMart.**

**Hello!**

**How is everyone? Like the last chapter? For once, Harry was HAPPY!**

**But I must be evil and take away his happiness...bad me.**

**I love the reviews I'm getting! I'm averaging almost 5 per chapter! That's great! GO REVIWERS!**

**This Chapter Is Dedicated To...yaeko and FieryArie313 and cardfreak! See, reviewing has rewards!**

**Mood-Setter: 'Paper Rock Scissors' by Jamisonparker.**

**Chapter Twelve : Didn't Expect You...**

_**.XDXHX.**_

It had be almost two weeks since Harry's birthday. He spent his days playing with his kitten, Bingo, and attempting to train her to not chew on his sneakers. It wasn't going very well.

He and Draco had been talking more and more, yet neither had wanted to think about 'The Mate Thing'. Everytime Lucius or Narcissa would bring it up, both boys would blush and try not to look at each other.

It's an odd thing, living with the person whom you're paired with for eternity, and you don't know the first thing about them.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Lucius had taken Harry clothes shopping a few days after his birthday, and Hary wasn't very happy. He hated having someone pay for things he should be able to pay for himself. That's what eld him to thinking about getting a job.

He approched Draco with this idea, and he had scoffed at Harry. "Harry, love, why in bloody hell would you need a job when all your needs are met as it stands?" Harry scowled.

"Because, you fairy-boy, I don't like being waited on hand and foot by house-elves, and I don't like things being done for me when I could do them myself."

"I am NOT a fairy-boy."

"I'll believe you when you stop wearing Chap-Stik."

"It's manly..."Draco whined indignantly. "I like soft lips. Bite me for it."

"Nah, I'm good."

"You know something Harry?" asked Draco.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"You really suck sometimes."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Later that week, Harry was working up the courage to talk to Lucius about his predicament. Everytime Harry would see the blonde man walking in the Malfoy mansion corridors, he couldn't look him in the eye. _What if he won't let me a job?_

After three more days of plucking up his courage, Harry was determined to tell Lucius his decision. Finally, after half an hour of searching the mansion, Harry found Lucius in his study, and barged through the door.

"Lucius, we have to talk." Malfoy Senior looked confused and shocked by Harry's outright statement. "Oh...of course, Harry. Take a seat." Harry sat in an armchair in front of Lucius.

"Now, what is it we needed to talk about?" Lucius queried.

"Well, sir, don't take this the wrong way, I'm very grateful about the fact that you've been my guardian for the past few weeks, but it's getting to the point where I want to spread my wings, if you will."

"What wings, Harry?" Lucius stated. "Is there something...?" Harry sighed.

"Don't change the subject. My point is, I want to get a job, and maky my _own_ income." Lucius looked apalled. "But, Harry...don't we provide you with everything you could ever possibly need?"

"But, Lucius, that's exactly it. I highly resent that other people have to look out for me, and provide me with everything."

Lucius nodded. "An admirable trait, independence. You seem to possess a large quantity of it as well."

"Whatever it take to survive on my own. May I get this job? I'm really only asking because it would be extremely rude for me to disappear for nine hours everyday."

Lucius rubbed his temples. As a guardian, he wasn't ready for this. _Damn paternal side of me..._

"Where exactly is this job?" Harry smiled. "The local PetsMart."

"What in bloody hell is 'PetsMart'?"

"It's a wonderful store. They sell everything you could possibly need or want for your pet. The also sell pets too. In truth, I've been over there a few times to get food and other things for Bingo."

"However did you get there?" Harry frowned. "Floo powder."

"Ah. I see no problem. When do you start?"

Harry smirked. "Tomorrow."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry Flooed to his job the next morning, the fireplace of arrival being in a small unknown wizarding pub.

"See ya, Mick." Harry said as he walked through the pub's door. "Come back soon, Harry!" said the barkeep cheerily.

Harry walked down the tiny sidestreet next tot he pub, having gone out the backdoor, and hurried so as not to be late for his first day.

Several minutes later, Harry stepped through the automatic doors of PetsMart. Looking around as he walked to the manager's door, trying to push down the feeling of nervousness. He'd never had a job before.

"Come in!" said someone through the door. Harry pushed at heavy door open, and was inwardly shockd at his bosses first impression.

Usually, bosses look extremely uptight and/or very well put-together. Bethany Jaackson, as her nametag said, looked alsmot too wild to be a manager.

Bethany looked up. "Oh, you're the new guy! Welcome to PetsMart, I'm Bethany Jaackson, your new boss!" she said, all in one breath. She had alot of energy, and Harry could guess that a good amount of it had come from the three cups of coffee on her desk. She smiled, revealing straight white teeth. "How are you, Harry? You seem a little too quiet for me!" she laughed. She walked over to where Harry stood.

"I see! You're a man of little words, Harry! How mysterious!" she exclaimed while shaking his hand vigourously, which made her blue, pink, and green streaked hair bounce up and down. Harry smiled. Through the overly-cheerful exterior, his boss really seemed to care about her employees.

"Now, Harry, if you'll fill out this policy form, we can get you started in the backroom!"

"What exactly is on this policy form?"

Bethany smiled. This Harry kid seemed sharp, even if he didn't talk alot. "It's stating that you won't steal any PetsMart merchandise, and that you agree to the terms and conditions of being a PetsMart employee. I promise, this is nothing like in the cinema; there's no hidden contract!" she laughed. Harry signed his name with a flourish, and Bethany put the paper in a file next to her desk. "Wonderful! Let's give you the tour!"

"Miss Jaackson-"

"Harry, call me Bethany! Eveyone else does!"

"Okay, Bethany, I only have one stipulation. I can only work until August thirty-first. After that, I'm at boarding school until nest summer."

Bethany smiled. "That's quite alright, Harry. In fact I have another employee who requested the same thing." Harry looked astonished. "Oh!"

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Last room of our tour, the Adoption Room! The is where our cats and kittens are."

Harry'e eyes scanned the five occupants of the small room. Three of them were sleeping, and the other two were watching him and Bethany. One of them, a large orange and white striped tabby, mewed at Harry. He offered a small smile at the cat, and said to Bethany, "May I...?" She smiled back at him. "Of course."

Harry walked up to the cage of the large feline, and offered his finger. The cat sniffed his finger, mewed again, and rubbed the side of his face against harry's finger. He smiled, and traced the curve of the cat's velvety ear.

Bethany watched the procedure with smiling eyes. _Harry sure has a way with animals._

"Hary, I think you should work with the animals instead of in the back. You seem to really like cats, I see."

Harry's lip quirked up sheepishly. "Well, I have a kitten where I live. She's about nine weeks now, as I got her on my birthday a couple weeks ago. Her name is Bingo."

"That sounds positively adorable."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Hey you, how's your day been?" Harry said as he scratched the top of the orange and white striped cat, whose name, he'd found out, was Cassie. His shift was just about over for his first day. All he'd done was make sure the cats were fed, and were played with in a special room that customers didn't know about. Hary was thoroughly enjoying his job.

Cassie mewed at him and started purring.

"Are you adopting today, sir?" said someone behind Harry. He turned around and saw Hermoine Granger, smiling her famous winning smile, which was usually reserved for teachers, at him. When he turned around, her smile faded. "Do I know...HARRY! What are oyu doing here, and why are you wearing a uniform? You're not working here are you?"

"'Moine, I thought you were quicker that that..." Harry taunted her.

"Shut up! I'm in shock! I just wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Get used to it, Hermoine, I work here until August thirty-first."

"Let's get dinner. I know this really nice place..."

"I don't know if I can...I have to get...well, it isn't 'home'..."

"Don't you still live with the Dursleys?" said a confused Hermoine.

"Nope. Got kidnapped."

"I sincerely hope you're being a jackass and pulling my leg about that."

"Nope. I'm serious. Wanna guess who kidnapped me?"

Hermoine thought. "...Dumbledore?" Harry shook his head. "No."

"The tell me, 'cuz I'm not sitting here pondering it." Harry smiled a toothless grin. "My, how our little perfectionist has changed..."

"Bite me. I'm no one's perfect angel, not anymore."

"I'm changing the subject. Since when do you know the area enough to get a job here?"

"I moved to the area a week back. My parents were too scared of the fact that Death Eaters knew where we used to live...so they, and I, upped and left. I don't like it here at all."

"Well, tell me why while we eat dinner."

"What about-?"

"I don't care what they say."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"So. Let me get this straight; you were kidnapped by _Snape _two days before your birthday, you now live in the Malfoy mansion, your mate is a ferret, and you have to save the world?"

"Loose lips sink ships, Hermoine. Don't tell anyone. When's the food coming?"

"Don't change the subject on me, Harry. That's alot to take in all in ten minutes."

"Well, take it in incrimates then, I'm going to see what's taking so long." With that, Harry stood up and walked briskly over to the waiter desk. Hermoine watched him go with narrowed eyes.

"Get back here!"

Harry turned around, still walking. "Just a minute! Excuse me, sir..."

Hermoine reached out and stirred her drink with her straw. "Get back here you loser..." she said to no one in particular.

"Is this seat taken, miss?" said a handsome blonde as her sat down in front of Hermoine. "I'm Shawn. What's your name?"

Hermoine looked at him, disgusted. "Please go away. I'm not telling you my name."

The boy smiled a charming smile at Hermoine, obviously thinking she was playing hard-to-get. "Why not? You look lonely. I want to cheer you up."

"I'm sure you do. Go away."

"Why would I leave such a pretty girl sitting all by herself?"

"Because she's here with her boyfriend." Both Hermoine and the boy turned around and saw Harry walking quickly towards them, a frown on his face that was aimed for Shawn.

"Hey Marie, sorry I took so long." Harry said as he slid in next to Hermoine, kissing her on the cheek. Shawn looked pissed and disappointed at the same time. "...Excuse me." he squeaked as he scrambled out of Hary's seat. Hermoine laughed lightly.

"Harry! You didn't have to do that!"

"Yes, I did. You should have seen your face, you were so pissed at him. Besides, it comes with the territory of being a best friend. By the way, the food should be here shortly."

"I'm sure I did look pissed; he wouldn't go away! That's great about the food, because I'm starving. Quick question; how do you feel being mated to a blonde ferret, anyhow?"

"Wow...wasn't expecting that." Hermoine frowned. "Answer me."

Harry sighed heavily. "I guess it doesn't bother me, having to mate to a boy instead of a girl. I actually prefer boys over girls, if you know what I mean. But if that boy happens to be one Draco Malfoy...well, you can imagine how I feel right now." Hermoine nodded.

"It's a whole new thing, having to be a mate...I hate being attached to anything like that. It was agony with Ginny last year. She was incredibly clingy..."

"Harry, I have a feeling you're going to feel like this until you actually _mate_ with the ferret. Nourriture ici."

A waiter served them both Italtian food, Hermoine getting basic pasta and Hary getting fettucini. The plates were china-made, and were gold-rimmed. The design, which Harry could barely distinguish through the food, was

"Stop incorporating French in our conversations, and I already know. Lucius has kept me plenty aware of the mating status." Hermoine cocked her eyebrows. "It's Lucius now?"

"It's a necessary thing. Hey...I should take you to the mansion. You can meet my new kitten."

"You didn't tell me about your kitty!"

"I forgot. Oops."

"Anyways, I can't I told Mum and Dad I'd be home right after work." Harry smirked. "What about out impromtu dinner?" Hermoine grinned. "They'll forgive me."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"So I'll see you at work tomorrow, right Harry?" Hermoie said as they were walking to the pub where Harry had to Floo to the Malfoy mansion.

"I wouldn't miss work for all the world, 'Moine."

"Here's your stop. Try to come early tomorrow morning; we can do breakfast. 8:30 too early?"

"Nope. See you." Harry muttered as he slipped into the almost-full pub. As he walked to the fireplace, he overheard random conversations, like "...and then he said...", or "...he BROKE UP with me! All I wanna do is get piss-drunk...", or the ever-popular "...Happy hour cocktails all around!"

"All these people have practially no problems. Well, let's stick _them_ with a mate they don't want and see how they like it." Harry said to himself.

Hary Flooed back to the Malfoys, in a bad mood, even though he'd met up with Hermoine.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Harry? Can I come in?"

"If it'll make you sleep at night."

A timid-looking Draco peeped into Hary's room, and seeing him sitting on his bed petting Bingo as she slept, decided it was safe to come in. "You do know that it's after six, right? You're work ended at five...I called at five after, and they said you'd already left..."

"Draco. Why are you acting so..._parentish_? It's pissing me off."

Draco looked taken aback. "But...Harry, I only want what's best for you." By now, Draco was stanidng fully by Harry's bed, and placed his hands on his hips. Harry fixed him with an even glare. "I know that, Dray. But sometimes, it gets very tiring."

"Fine. But _include _me once in awhile, 'kay? I want to get to know you-" Draco climbed on Harry's bed, and sat opposite of him. "-but you're pushing me away. I don't like it."

"I kow you don't, but I can't help it. It's a mix of a habit, and an instinct. Something like, _'What if they abandon me like Sirius, or my parents...?'_ "

"Harry, your parents nor Sirius abandoned you. Even though I never knew them, I'm sure they wouldn't have left you like that."

"I don't think they would have abandoned me either. But that's what it feels like. The only person I can really, truly trust is Hermoine. Not even Ron, so much anymore. In fourth year, he wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't put my name in the goblet. It hurt that he wouldn't take my word over everyone else's. Ever get that feeling of hopelessness? That's kinda what I feel everyday..."

Draco moved closer until he was directly in front of Harry, and placed his hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Harry looked at Draco's hand as if it were a depressing object. "I never want you to feel that way _ever_ again when I'm with you. I care about you, more than you know, more than you _should_ know. I want you to have the best, be the best. I'm here for you. I always will be. Don't _ever _forget that."

Hary looked Draco in the eye. The emerald orbs filled with sad, yet happy tears. "Thank you, Draco. I needed that." Draco wrapped his arms around Harry, and he placed his head on Draco's shoulder. They stayed that way, Draco rubbing Harry's back soothingly, until Bingo woke up and started jumping on Harry.

Draco picked up the kitten, and Bingo stretched out a paw towards the blonde's nose. "Aren't you cute?" cooed Draco. Bingo mewed. Harry chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Harry and Draco stayed up until past eleven, sitting on Harry's bed, teasing the kitten with various danlgy things, and making her chase after their fingers. Eventually, both boys got tired, and Draco got up and stretched. "I guess I'm gonna go to bed...night Harry." Draco padded towards the door.

His hand was on the doorknob when he heard a whisper. "Stay here." Draco turned around and saw Hary holding Bingo, staring at him with unmoving emerald eyes. "Sleep with me tonight. Please."

Draco responded by walking back over to Harry's bed and climbing in. "Are you aure you want me here, Harry?" He nodded in response. "I'm sure, Dray." Harry reached for Draco's hand and pulled him down next to him so both boys were on the pillows. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's frame and held him close. Harry placed his hands on Draco's chest.

"What if I can't sleep?" Draco gave Harry a small squeeze. "Close your eyes until you fall asleep and dream of me." Harry laughed, a small breathy laugh that showed Harry would have no problems sleeping.

"Goodnight, Harry." Draco whispered into the dark room. Hearing no response except for Harry's steady breathing, he felt confident enough to whisper, "I think I love you..."

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Hm. Bit fast for love, but that's the mating hormones talking there. Don't worry, those magic words will be spoken again, but not for some time.**

**Ooh, something that's bothering me...remember when Draco and Lucius were looking for Harry after her took off when Narcissa was wrapping his burn wounds, and they found Severus?**

**Well, you'll find out what he was doing next chapter to make Draco scream. :)**

**Review, lovelies!**


	13. Chapter 13 : Mine?

**Wow...never thought I'd get this far on this. Thanks for all the luurvely reviews!**

**Ya know when you're watching a movie, an you hear music in the background? How it kinda sets the mood(i.e. - horror movie - fast, jumpy music)? Well, that's what mood-setters are supposed to do. Any suggestions for better names?...**

**Frankly, I'm stunned that no one got a very BIG lyric in last chapter from Fall Out Boy(XO)! Answer's underlined:**

"So. Let me get this straight; you were kidnapped by _Snape _two days before your birthday, you now live in the Malfoy mansion, your mate is a ferret, and you have to save the world?"

"Loose lips sink ships, Hermoine. Don't tell anyone. When's the food coming?"

**Hm, wasn't that song extremely popular like, a few months ago? Just because it's 'outdated' doesn't mean it's off-limits! hehe**

**Contrary to 'popular' belief, Kaci's lyrics were NOT used in last chapter. It was actually an '80s song that my mom was listening to in the car almost two weeks ago. Glad to see that everyone is getting so very into it, though. :)**

**Well, I have nothing else to say, so let's cut to the chase shall we?**

**Mood-Setter : 'Remember' by Gabriel Mann, Sleepover Soundtrack. I don't know why, but it fits. Kapeesh?**

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Chapter 13: Mine?**

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry woke up with a start the next morning, still not used to sleeping in the mansion. He looked up, and was unsurprised to see Draco sleeping next to him. It was becoming a recurring thing.

What was even more unsurprising was how Harry felt about the whole situation.

Sure, he liked - no, _loved_ - his indepenence. Having a mate, someone that would be with you for all eternity, was starting to rain on his parade. But, on the other hand, the one rooting for Team Draco, Harry really didn't mind sharing his lifetime with the blonde boy. He stopped bothering him last year. He only retaliated for show.

But, bottom line, Harry really just wanted his independence back.

Turning to see what time it was, Harry was shocked to find it was 8:20 A.M. _Shit! I agreed to meet Hermoine for breakfast in TEN MINUTES!_

In his haste to get out of bed an ready, he woke up Draco. "Hey, easy on the covers there, Potter. I'd still like to sleep for a few more hours."

"Easy for you to say, Dray, but some of us don't live off Daddy's money." retorted Harry as he hastily pulled on some clean jeans. Draco sat up in be and propped himself up on his right arm. "Nice view, Harry, mind staying a tad longer?"

"Sorry, can't," Harry rebuked, not even listening to what Draco said, "I'm already late. Hermoine's gonna kill me..."

"I'm awake now. Since when did Miss Perfect Prefect, Hermoine Granger, come into this equation?"

"Met up with her yesterday. She works at PetsMart too. We went for dinner after work. That's why I was so late." Harry said in one breath, still searching for a satisfactory shirt. He held up one of the shirts he'd gotten for his birthday. "Will this do?"

"Let's see...'If You're Reading This Shirt, You Need A Hobby'...that's defidently work-friendly."

"Bite me. I don't have the time. It's already...8:28! Shit! Hermoine's gonna be after my pelt if I'm late." Suddenly, Harry got an idea. "Hey, Draco...how fast can you get dressed?"

"This fast." was Draco's reply as he stood up out of Harry's bed, and pointed Harry's wand at himself, which was lying convieniently on the bedside table. "_Rempium!_"

Instantly, Draco's sleep-ridden clothes changed into a different color, still matching, and were clean. "Wow," said Harry. "New spell?"

"Made it myself."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Five minutes later, Draco Apparated both himself and Harry to a small, dirty alley near the PetsMart where Harry worked. "I hope Hermoine won't kill me for bringing you along, but I had the feeling she'd want to meet the 'New, Improved, and not so Arsehole-ish Draco'."

"Well, I'm sorry for taking an extra few minutes to primp. Malfoys always still have to look nice."

"Sure, you can create a spell to change and clean clothes instantly. But you can't make one for your precious head?"

"Why would I leave the well-being of my HAIR to some spell when I could do it myself?" said Draco as he patted his hair, making it lie smooth and flat. Harry scowled. "It's _hair_."

Draco gasped. "BLASPHEMY!"

"If you two are finished, could we hurry this up? I'm starving."

Harry grinned. "'Moine! Glad to see you aren't going to kill us for taking forever and a lifetime to get here."

Hermoine stood with both hands on her hips, an impatient look on her face. She grinned cynically. "I didn't say that. And _you_," she said turning to Draco, "I don't care about your hair, as long as it's on your head, be grateful. Next time you have an appointment with me, you'd better _speed it up_!"

"Rawr. Guess who's wearing their ovaries on the outside now?" teased Draco. He took in her apperal; black flip-flops, light blue jeans with a hole in the left knee, a short black skirt over the jeans, and a white tank top that had the word 'London' written in thick, black cursive with wite rhinestones on strategic spots. He could also see a black choker, wrist cuff, and silver bangles. _My, Granger's toughened up her look..._

"BITE ME." Hermoine spat, her eyes flashing.

"Herm," said Harry soothingly as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "is something the matter?" She looked him in the eye, "Yes, Harry, something is very wrong. Would you like to know what?"

"It might help the situation if I did, yes."

"Okay. Here's what's wrong: I'm very pissed off right now because I found my cat laying DEAD in the ROAD this morning. Remember Crookshanks? Yeah, well now he's a fur-stain on the pavement." And with those last words, Hermoine burst into tears. Harry wrapped his arms around her and shot Draco a look that said '_HELP _'. Draco sent back a look that clearly said '_I can't deal with crying females! _' Harry glared, and eventually Draco came walking over.

"Erm...Grang-, I mean, _Hermoine_, it'll be okay. I know what it's like when a pet dies..."

"Know what it's like to see them dead the next morning?" she choked out from her position on Harry's shoulder, which was currently being stained with tears. "It's...undecribable. I can't stand it, not even knowing _when_ it happened."

"Shh, Herm, shh. No, I don't know how you feel right now. I know you loved Crookshanks. I liked him very much, myself. He was a lovely cat. But for now, Draco and I will treat you to _anything_ you want. Nothing is off limits."

"R-really?" hiccupped Hermoine, looking from Harry to Draco and back again. She could tell from Harry's solemn gaze and Draco's enthusiatic nodding that they really wanted to help. She sighed. "Fine. But I just want food now."

"Food it is," siad Harry as his hand placed itself on Hermoine's over shoulder, making sure that if she burst into tears again, she'd have a shoulder to cry on, literally. All three teenagers walked out of the alley, Harry and Hermoine in front, Draco trailing slightly behind, trying to cheer Hermoine up by cracking jokes.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Feeling better, Herm?" aske Harry as they all sat back, stuffed to bursting with quality breakfast.

She smiled. "Much. Thanks, Harry and Draco. It means alot that I can count on you, especially you, Draco." Said boy smiled back at her. "Anything to help."

"Quick question before Harry and I leave for work, as it's 8:57 now; Draco, what are you doing all day?"

Draco frowned. "I...I don't know. Probably go shopping."

Harry snuck a look at the clock on the wall a few feet in fornt of the group. "Let's pay, Hermy and I gotta jet NOW." Draco smiled. "I'll take care of it. Go ahead, get to work."

Harry frowned. "You sure?" Draco nodded. "Positive."

"Thanks Draco!" said Hermoine, already halfway out the door. Harry cocked his head after her. "She certainly doesn't waste time."

"Guess not. Get going, Harry, you'll be-"

He was cut off when Harry kissed him on the cheek. "Now, be a good boy. Don't cause problems, don't get hurt, and stop by to see me."

Draco scowled. "Yes, _Mum_."

Harry, already halfway out the door, turned around and stuck his tongue out at Draco. Then he was gone.

Watching the door swing closed after Harry left, Draco's hand went up to his face and hovered over the spot where Harryr kissed him goodbye. "Was that real, or am I dreaming?" he whispered to himself. Letting his shaking fingers touch his cheek, Draco decided that he would think the kiss had really happened.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"I know what I saw, Harry! You kissed _Dwaky-Waky_ goodbye!" Hermoien teased Harry as they half jogged, half ran to PetsMart so as not to be late. "Cutest thing I ever did see!"

"It was bound to happen. Was it really that cute?" asked a blushing Harry. _Did I really do that?_

"Straight-up cuteness." Hermoine laughed. "And I never asked you; what was with you calling me _Marie_ yesterday in the resturaunt?" Harry grinned. "Well, I figured that you wouldn't want the creep to know your name, so I thought of a different one for you."

"Clever. And I thought you had your head up your arse..."

"Last one to Petsmart really _does_ have their head up their arse!" challenged Harry as he sped up. Seconds later, Hermoine was far behind.

"NOT FAIR!" he could hear her yelling after him. Harry laughed.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"I hope you two know that you're late!" hollered Bethany.

"We know!" Harry and Hermoine chorused together, both out of breath, both laughing. "Okay there, Herm?"

"Peachy keen! That was nothing!" replied Hermoine. Suddenly, she got a faint look on her face. She reached up to touch her forehead with the back of her hand. "I don't feel-"

She cut herself off when she fainted, landing in a graceful heap on PetsMart's floor.

"Hermoine! Hermoine, get _up_! Oh shit, I killed my best friend!" Harry freaked. "Hermoine! I'm sorry! Don't be dead..." A tear slid down his cheek. "Crap..."

"What's wrong?" said Bethany, coming up behind Harry. She nodded towards Hermoine's crumpled form on the floor. "She okay?" Harry gaped at her. "Of course she's not okay! She just fell over!"

"Harry," said Bethany, trying to console him, "Harry."

"What?"

"You're really gullible," said Hermoine from the floor. Harry stared at her. "...What?"

"I said, you're really gullible. You nitwit, of course I'm not dead! It was a joke!" she said as she pulled herself off the floor. Harry looked over at Bethany, who was holding onto her knees, she was laughing so hard.

"She _got_ you! She pulled the same thing on me her first day!" Harry turned to Hermoine, who was trying to wipe a smirk off her face. "Sorry, Harry couldn't resist."

"I don't like you, Hermoine." She beamed. "I know. Now how about we get to work? Less time we work, less money we get!" Bethany smiled.

"Jolly good idea! The cats are lonely."

"Cassie! Kitties, I'm comin'!" said Harry, as he walked off. Hermoine laughed. "Little eager, Harry?"

"A tad."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Hours later, Harry and Hermoine were holed up in the feline playroom, exercising the cats. Cassie however, wouldn't move form her place besides Harry's ankles, and was purring up a storm. Every so often, he would reach down and scratch her behind her ears, making her purring even louder. Hermoine watched all this in wonderment.

"Why do animals like you so much if they can sense supernatural beings?" Harry shrugged.

"Perhaps I have a calming persona. Not all vampires are pure evil, you know."

"I know." Hermoine replied softly, watchiong another cat frolic in a box of jingle balls. Whenever a cat batted the balls, they made a sound, which delighted the felines. "It's just...wow, y'know?"

"I know. Do I _ever_ know."

"Harry!" interrupted Bethany. "You have a _visitor_! Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

"Draco!" For the first time in some time, Harry smiled. _Seeing Draco always makes me feel better._

Harry followed Bethany out. When they got to the main aisle, Harry looked around, but saw no platinum blonde heads. "I thought you said Draco was here." Bethany frowned. "He was just here, though...maybe he's in one of the aisles. Go ahead," she said when Harry glanced at her, "take fifteen minutes off."

"You're the best boss anyone could ever hope for!" said Harry as he set off down one of the aisles containing dog food. "I try!"

After wasting some of his precious time off wandering through the canine supply aisles, Harry thought of something. _Why am I here, in the DOG aisles? The Malfoys, nor I, own a dog. Durr._

"There you are! I've been looking for you! Why are you in the dog aisles when we don't have a dog?"

"Full of questions aren't you, Dray?" answered Harry, striding over to where Draco stood. Harry could see that he was holding a pink and green collar with the words '_Sexy_' written on it in glitter, which Harry half presumed, half _HOPED_, was for Bingo. _Drcao wearing a collar would be a disturbing sight, but not an unwelcome one..._

"I wanna see the kitties! Show me the kitties, Harry!" whined Draco playfully. "I like cats!"

"Um, I see that, Dray," was Harry's reply as he reached the spot where Draco stood. Draco suddenly reached out, grabebd Harry's waist, and kissed him on the cheek. "That was for before." Harry grinned sheepishly. "Before was an impulse...but not a bad one, I think." Draco smiled softly at the ebony-haired boy as he started to blush. "Glad you think that. Now give me the grand tour."

Harry took Draco's hand in his own, and pulled him in the direction of the playroom for felines. "You like cats? Wait till you see this."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Two hours later, Harry snuck bakc into the feline playroom, only to see Drcao still teasing the cats there with dangly strings with shiny strings at the bottom. "Jump for it, Striker!"

"What if Striker doesn't want to jump for it?" interrupted Harry. _Haha, Dray has a soft spot._

Draco spun around from his position on the floor, looking surprised. "Harry, aren't you working? It's only four..."

"Well that means I have an hour. And besides, you're doing my job for me," Harry smirked. "Thanks for that." Draco gaped. "Like I knew."

"Whatever. For the next hour, I belong to the cats." Draco poute. "You're mine."

Harry stared at Draco evenly, his eyes burning. "I'm _nobody's_."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Harry! Wait!" shouted Draco as he struggled to keep up with Harry's brisk walk. The past hour was horrible. After Draco had said _You're mine_, Harry wouldn't say anything. It made Draco feel just awful, anything that went wrong with Harry made him feel that way. _It makes my heart hurt._

As Draco mused, Harry took the opportunity to hide form him. He didn't feel like talking about why he did the things he did. _I don't want to spill my soul._

_"It's the only thing Draco wants from you."_ said an annoying voice in the back of Harry's head. _"He only wants to know you."_

"Shut up..." was Harry's reply as he knocked his head with his palm, earning him more than a few odd looks from passing strangers.

Seeing a bookstore on his left, Harry quickly entered the building. As he walked rapidly to the back of the store so as not be seen in the front wondow, he noticed piles of books on the floor. _Shouldn't they be on shelves?_

Harry turned around in time to see Draco walk past, his beautiful face contorted with worry and concern. _Kinda makes my heart sad._

"May I help you, sir?" Harry about-faced and saw an elderly lady, in her sixties, smiling accomadatingly at him. "Um...no, actually, I'm fine. I'm just waiting for someone." The lady continued to smile, even though Harry could see a bit of hurt in her eyes. "Well, sir, that's fine. Have a nice day!" She turned to walk away.

_Great. Now I feel bad. Well, it couldn't hurt to buy a book..._

_**.XDXHX.**_

"...and then he wouldn't talk to me, and now I don't know where he is!" cried Draco to Narcissa, later that evening. Nacissa rubbed his back in soothing circles, trying to get the young, overly-emotional vampire to calm down. "It was bound to happen, honey. You know how he is. Harry's extrememly independent. You can't expect him to mold himself to your expectations."

"That's just it. He's exactly what I want as he stands. He just won't let me tell him."

"Shh, Dray, he'll come round sooner or later..." Draco sighed shakily, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He looked up into Narcissa's clear, yet worried, light blue eyes, letting his tears fall down his face. "Harry makes my heart hurt so much...I can't stand it."

_Draco loves Harry...but he can't, or won't admit it._

As Narcissa thought of the sheer romantic tragedy of the situation, her strong guard dissolved, and soon she was crying along with Draco.

_**.XDXHX.**_

_What if I get kicked out? I have nowhere to go, no home to speak of..._

Harry jogged towards the alley where he would Apparate, as he now had his liscense, thanks to Lucius. Three books were weighing him down, all on the topic of vampiric mating. _Just a bit curious._

_I know I've broken Draco's heart, no need to sugarcoat it. But why do I feel do goddamn AWFUL about it? It's not as if I care about him...do I? I'm confusing myself._

Arriving at the alley, Harry looked around, surprised as to how he got there. _I have to start paying attention, dammit. Do I even want to see the Malfoys now?_

Sighing, as he was wont to do, Harry Apparated-

_It's not home._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Draco sat on Harry's bed in his small suite in the mansion, stroking Bingo's chin, and letting the tears fall. He watched them land on his arm, glistening in the golden lamp's light, the only light on in the room.

_What did I do? I can't help what I say...It hurts to be around him, but at the same time, I like it...what's wrong with me?_

"Bingo? Is there something wrong with me?" Draco asked the cat, who was purring like no tomorrow. She looked up at him, mewed, and fell asleep. Draco pouted.

"What, I'm that boring?"

"I wouldn't say boring." Draco almost fell off the bed turning around to see Harry standing there, hands on hips, watching Draco's every move. Draco nly knew Harry was in the murky room because he could see emerald eyes glinting mischieviously at him.

"What am I, then?"

"Somewhere between _mine _and _only _mine." Draco looked nonplussed. "What?"

"You heard me," said Harry as he stepped into the lamp's light. Draco gasped. In this light, Harry looked downright irresistable. Harry continued to walk towards Draco, his arms swinging freely by his side, loping gracefully, yet with purpose. "We both know I'm the dominant one in this relationship."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "What about me comforting you? Who was submissive then, huh?" Harry raised his eyebrows right back at Draco, amused. "I never said the dominant one was emotionally stable."

"Touche."

"Mind if I join you on _my_ bed?" Draco had the good grace to look sheepish. "Go right ahead."

Harry climbed up onto the high raised bed, waking up Bingo as he did, who mewed threateningly, then jumped off and curled up in the corner. "Weird cat."

Harry, however, wasn't paying attention to what Draco said, and was instead staring at him intently, as if he would never see the blonde again...as if he wanted to...

"Harr-!"

Draco felt soft, velvety lips pressed against his all in a rush, hands on his shoulders, arms around his back. He was pushed backwards on to Harry's bed, his head hitting the pillows. Harry ran his hands up Draco's torso, letting them linger on his chest. Draco traced lazy circles in Harry's back, itching for the shirt to come off.

Suddenly Harry pulled away. Draco, still laying with his eyes closed, moaned. "...Don't stop..."

"That was a teaser. More to come." With that sentence, Harry flopped face-down on the pillows and fell asleep. Draco glared at his sleeping mate "You bastard."

"Mmm...," was all Harry could say.

"Just for that, I'm not sleeping with you tonight." Draco watched Harry, waiting for a reaction other than a snore. Then, true to his word, Draco rolled away from Harry on the bed, and swung his feet over the side, turning once to look at Harry, who looked like a mix of a demon and an angel, with the black hair and the white skin, the angelic appearence of sleep, yet the underlying of devilish tendencies.

Draco walked to the big window in Harry's suite, opened the glass doors, and stepped out into the balcony.

As a child, Draco's favorite parts of the mansion were the balconies in every suite. He would visit them frequently, even on rainy days, and watch the tranquil world that was the garden. The flowers growing, the hummingbirds flying, the butterflies fluttering; it all gave him a sense of inner peace.

Draco smiled. _Call me a sap, but I love it._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Draco stood watching the stars twinkle above him for what seemed like hours. The stars, to him, held an endless sense of wonderment, they made him feel so small. It felt like someone was up there watching him.

"Dray?" came a mumbling behind him. Draco blinked. _I forgot Harry._

"Out here, Harry."

"There's an out here?" asked Harry as he came stumbling onto the balcony. _I didn't know there was a damned balcony._

Draco smiled, watching Harry stare upward at the glittering stars. "Kiss the stars with me, Harry," he whispered. The ebony-haired boy before him looked him in the eye. He whispered his answer.

"I'd rather kiss you." Harry leaned forward, expexting Draco to do the same. He opened his eyes when nothing came. He saw Draco looking downwards and to the left, apparently finding the garden below fascinating.

"...Dray? What's wrong?" The blonde boy looked up, and Harry was shocked to see sad, crying grey eyes. "You used me before, Harry, in your bedroom. I didn't like it."

He sighed heavily and gathered the shaking mass that was Draco into his arms, and rubbed his back. "I didn't mean for it to be so rotten on your end, I was only acting on...impulse, I guess..."

Draco looked Harry in the eyes, silver meeting emerald. "Just promise me you'll never use me again," Draco whispered.

"I promise," Harry whispered back. "Kiss me."

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Um...interesting? I guess...I don't know.**

**There's no point to this chapter, but I felt like writing it.**

**And, I KNOW, I forgot about what Snape was doing. It didn't fit in the chapter, like I thought it would. So I'll tell you. **

**Snape was masturbating to a Playboy magazine. Happy? God, Snape's like those pervs at school...ahem. Anyways...**

**Update next week! Revieeeew!**


	14. Chapter 14 : Back To Hogwarts

**MY MUSE WON'T VISIT ME!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Abercrombie, Hot Topic, South Carolina, or anything. I own the plot, though. Isn't that great?**

**I'm still trying to type something that isn't shitty. So maybe you readers will get lucky, and I'll get off my lazy ass and update for you!**

**Since I only got three reviews for last chapter, (am I losing my touch already?) and no one guessed the _right_ lyric, this chapter isn't dedicated to anyone. Sorry...**

**This chapter if _NOT_ for anyone who likes Ron. He annoys me...I have no idea why though.**

**Le mood-setter - 'Scars' by Papa Roach. How can you NOT love that song?**

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Chapter Fourteen : Back To Hogwarts**

_**.XDXHX.**_

It was August thirty-first, a full sixteen days after Harry and Draco's fight-and-makeup-seesion. Narcissa and Lucius had refused to talk about, saying that it 'wouldn't do if the boys couldn't resolve their own problems.'

Draco, for one, was fully feeling the effects of the words spoken during the fight, even over two weeks later. He'd been half-joking when he'd said 'You're mine' to Harry.

_I say 'half' because I was JOKING, yet I do mean it...He's the ONE for me._

It had felt like someone stabbed his heart when Harry ran away. And when he couldn't find him...Draco broke down.

_I can't stop my mind from going on overdrive about him, but Harry doesn't seem to get that notion. Is he refusing to believe that I actually _care, _or is he...is he feeling the same? I just wish I could tell..._

Draco walked down the hallways separating him from Harry, thinking about their status as of now, and trying not to accidently walk into a wall in his daze.

_**.XDXHX.**_

Harry woke up very slowly. First he stretched, making sure every body part was flexible. After strectching, he fell into a state of dreamless sleep, but still aware of his surroundings. Then, after dozing for a few minutes, Harry shot up in his bed, his face paler than normal.

"I go back to hell tomorrow."

"No shit, sherlock. Just figure that out?" Harry looked off in the direction of his door, and upon seeing Draco standing there, crossed his arms protectively across his chest. "What, you were _watching_ me sleep?"

Draco smirked. "Can't say I can't help myself." Harry glared half-heartedly. "I never even went to Diagon Alley for supplies."

"Oh, don't worry about that inconvienience. Father and Mother took care of that a long time ago."

Harry's mouth fromed a small 'oh'. "Well, that helps."

"It sure as hell does. It frees us to do whatever we what. _For the rest of the day_," Draco suggested. Harry, however, didn't get the not-too-sutble hint.

"I'm going back to sleep," said Harry, stretching his arms up over his head, then fell back on the warm bed. " Night!"

Draco frowned, disappointed. "You can't take a hint, can you, Harry?"

Harry turned around and smiled at the person who was sweetly disturbing his sleep. "Oh, I can take any hint thrown at me. Sometimes I just choose not to." And with that, Harry rolled over so he was facing the wall, his back to Draco. "G'night!"

Draco walked out the door, muttering. "G'night, he says...damned arsehole can bite me."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"So...yesterday was my last day, Bethany."

"Yes, yes. I know, Harry, dear. I just don't want you to leave! The cats will miss you!"

Harry shifted his foot, uncomfortable with goodbyes. He was making sure that Bethany knew he wouldn't be coming to work tomorrow...or until next summer. He stuck his hands in his pockets, fiddling with the check Bethany had given him. _Do I really have to go back to Hogwarts?_

"Well, it was lovely having you here at PetsMart, Harry," said Bethany, as she was giving Harry a quick hug. "I can hardly wait until next summer!"

Harry smiled sheepishly. _I hate goodbyes._ "Me neither, Bethany."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"What are you going to buy, Harry?"

"Not exactly sure yet, Moine, but defidently something nice."

Hermoine twisted her head around to look at Draco, who was walking slowly, his head down, trying to look inconspicuous. "I feel bad. I mean, Draco's back there all alone."

Harry turned to see. "Yeah, I know, but he's being sulky today. Apparently, I didn't 'get the hint' about what he was saying." Harry smirked.

Hermoine crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "You guys...Harry, admit it. You _like_ him." Harry blushed. "Um...maybe?"

"Harry, go for it!" Hermoine smiled. Finally, Harry was embarrassed! _I need a farghin' camera to catch this moment that will never happen again._ "He's your _mate_, for Christ's sake. It's not like you're going to lose him."

"Hermoine," said Harry as he faced forwards, resufing to look into Hermoine's laughing brown eyes, "I don't want to talk about this."

"Whatever, Harry. In the near future, you're going to have to."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're here."

"Where's here?" asked Draco, who had come up behind them when they stopped. He didn't want to encroach on Harry's time, he knew that he and Hermoine were practically like brother and sister. He just wished he could be included in that little set-up. He couldn't help himself; he felt very left out.

"Here would be my favorite store," answered Harry, gesturing grandly to the big neon sign that stated 'Hot Topic'. "This store has everything I could ever want to buy."

"What about food?" asked Hermoine deviously.

Harry dropped his gaze to meet the floor. "Thay have candy..." he mumbled.

Hermoine cocked her head towards Harry as they stepped towards the store. "But what if they run out of candy? What will you do then?"

Harry glared at her. "I'll eat a goddamned pair of jeans then! Let's just shop with no more questions from the peanut gallery!" Hermoine smiled innocently.

"Let's go, guys, and no more glaring," interrupted Draco as he slipped his arms around both Harry and Hermoine's shoulders in an 'I'm-keeping-the-peace' kind of way.

"I like to glare," glared Harry.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"I _cannot _believe you bought that."

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Why would that be?" he asked as he tried to hide the Hot Topic bag behind him.

"You bought a _pink polo_, for the love of Merlin!"said Hermoine as she pulled the offending article of clothing out of the shopping bad where Harry tried to hide it.

Draco looked thoughtful. "They sell pink polos at Hot Topic? I didn't see any."

Hermoine turned on him. "That's because there weren't any. Durr." Draco's shoulders slumped. "Oh."

"Hermoine, I didn't buy it at Hot Topic. I bought it at Abercrombie." Hermoine placed her hands on her hips. "But you didn't leave Hot Topic at all. I wouldn't have noticed!"

Harry's shoulders shook with contaned laughter. "I left. I left to buy a lemonade. Draco knew. Besides, I'm only going to wear the polo once, on the first day of the semester. Everyone's gonna be floored."

Hermoine sputtered incoherently, but Harry was sure he could make out a few bad words.

"Speaking of floored, you should have _seen_ everyone's faces when I walked into Abercrombie. Oh, man, I thought I was gonna keel over laughing!" Harry said. As he spoke, his laughter refused to be contained, and he was now clutching a mall bench in order to stand up straight.

Hermoine shook her head. "I'll never be able to understand you, Harry." The Boy Who Lived grinned flirtaciously at her. Draco glowered. "That's the plan."

Hermoine glanced over at Draco, and back at Harry, raising her eyebrows. Harry shook his head. "Um, I'm going to...use the lady's room! So, um...yeah..." she tossed out as she scampered away. Draco gazed after her, hands in his pockets. "Eloquent, isn't she?"

"She's something," answered Harry as he glanced at Draco, who was sitting on the edge of a grand fountain. His shoulders were slumped, and he had a defeated look on his face as he stared off into the distance. Harry cocked his head. "Is...there somthign wrong?"

Draco peered up at the ebony-haired boy who stared down at him. "Nothing much, really, just...thinking."

"You think too much," said Harry as he plopped down next to Draco on the fountain's edge. Draco glanced over at Harry, hoping to not give away his inner emotional turmoil. "Can't help it."

Harry draped his arm around the blonde boy's shoulders, and noticed that Draco turned away. "Now I know that something's wrong."

Draco shrugged. "It's just...sometimes I give into sadness, somtimes I don't. That's it. Really," he added as Harry gave him a 'look'. Seeing that Draco was being serious, Harry let out a huge sigh.

"I know exactly what you mean," said Harry as he rubbed Draco's shoulder. "I know _exactly_ what you mean."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Harry! Get _up_, you lazy arse! It's already ten-fifteen!" sang an annoyingly chipper voice as the curtains guarding the windows in Harry's temporary hoom were yanked open, revealing a blindingly white light.

"I don't wanna get up," moaned a half-asleep Harry Potter as the warm blankets that covered him were being grabbed an pulled mercilessly. "And _you're_ the arse." He opened his eyes, and his vision was immediately accosted by light. "Argh! It _burns_!"

Draco stopped pulling Harry's blankets, which were anchored securly under the ebony-haired boy, rolled his eyes, and placed his hands on his hips arrogantly. "How am _I _the arse?" Harry turned over, a half angry, half sleepy look on his face, and sat up.

"_You're_ the arse because _you_ woke me _up_."

Draco looked exasperated. "_I_ didn't wake you up. The light did. But you have to get up anyway, it's time for breakfast."

Harry hunched over on the bed, bringing the blankets with him until he was completely covered up. "Breakfast can bite me," said his muffled voice.

Draco walked delicately over to the bed and stood over Harry's blanketed form. "If you don't get up now, Harry, I'll be forced to take drastic measures."

Harry gave Draco the finger.

"I am so going to enjoy this!" crowed Draco as he pulled his wand, which was conveniently located in the back pocket of his jeans, and stuck it's tip under the blanket. "_Aquas!_"

Harry rocketed out of the bed, the blankets loosely wrapped around him, flapping like a cape, as a jet of ice-cold water chased him. "Get it off! Get it off!"he screeched. Draco rolled around on the floor, laughing his aristocratic ass off. "That was _priceless_!"

Harry stood over the blonde boy with his arms crossed tightly across his chest and his emerald eyes eet in a pissed-off glare. "I hate you."

"But it was so _worth_ it," cried Draco as he wipes tears off his face, "to see your face!" He glanced up at Harry's glare, and instead of having the effect Harry wanted, which was making that blonde _ass_ shut up, it only made Draco laugh harder.

"Fuck this," said Harry as he gave Draco's shaking form a half-hearted kick. "I'm gonna eat."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Now _behave_, you two. I don't want any Howlers delivered to the mansion anytime soon," stated Narcissa Malfoy as she stood with the boys on platform nine and three-quarters. Passerby were giving them strange looks, and Narcissa could read what they were thinking on their faces: _Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, cohabitating peacefully? WE'RE ALL FUCKED!_

Harry and Draco stood side by side, faking innocence as Narcissa fixed them with her motherly eye. "Draco, dear, you have something on your shirt." Harry nudged the young Malfoy and whispered, "_Mommy's boy_."

"Bite me," Draco grumbled back as he swatted at the spot in a weak attempt to make it clean. He didn't like the stares of the people passing by. He could feel them burning into his back, making him squirm.

"Oh, it's ten-fifty!" cried Narcissa. She gave each boy a quick hug, making sure to pass them a Galleon to"spend on sweets". She gave them a fast wink, and disappeared into the bustling crowd. Harry stared after her, missing her maternal advice and hugs already.

"Let's _go_, Harry. I want a good seat," said Draco as he tugged on Harry's wrist.

"You don't have to frickin' _drag_ me," mumbled Harry.

"Then _move_."

Draco and Harry couldn't find spare seats in any carriage, and they were starting to get strange looks from kids of every year. Slytherins regarded Harry with distrust, and Gryffindors looked at Draco with anger. The only seats they could find were in the very last apartment, and they gladly settled for it.

"I hate getting looks like those," mumbled Harry as he settled by a window. Draco nodded, then said, "You better get used to it, Harry, 'cause as the year progresses, they are going to get so much worse."

Harry wrapped his arms around his knees as he curled up and watched the last of the crowd outside die away as the clock ticked closer to eleven. He gave Draco a cool glare. "Thank you, Confucious," he said in a flat, yet sarcastic voice. Draco grinned impishly.

"We have a visitor."

Harry twisted out of his position just as the door banged open. "_There_ you guys are! I've been scouring the damned train for you!" said an irritated Hermoine. She nodded at Draco. "Hey, you realize that you're late to the Prefect meeting?"

Draco paled. "Shit!" He ran out of the apartment, very nearly knocking over Hermoine in his haste.

"You're a Prefect, too. How come you're here instead of there?" said Harry as he watched Hermoine knuckles whiten as she grabbed the door to keep from toppling over. She straightened herself, and replied, "Went to find Draco." Harry nodded, and went back to regarding the outside world in an indifferent manner. "See you."

"Yep," was Hermoine's goodbye.

Harry watched the now dead platform begin to zip by. He sighed, thinking of his dismal and overly emotinal life. Somehow, the now-gone platform reminded him of, well, _him_. He thought of himself as the train, trying it's hardest to get away from the station, his old life. It hit home a little too hard.

An hour passed. Harry stared out the window. Finally, someone came to relieve him of his boredom.

"Hey, Harry."

Harry glanced over at the doorway, smiled, and stretched his stiff knees. "Hello, Neville."

"How was your summer?" asked the clumsy Gryffindor as he took a seat opposite Harry.

Harry half-smiled. "I can't think of a word that describes it. Yours?"

"I'll take that as a 'My summer was pleasant, thanks!' Mine was long, hot, and boring. The only upside was that my grandmum took me to America."

Harry nearly fell out of this seat. "Ameirca! What's it like there?" Neville shrugged. "Hot. Loud. Full of these little iPod things, whatever those are." Harry nodded.

"Where'd you go?"

"A state called South Carolina. It was really hot there, but the beaches were nice. We have relatives who live in a house on stilts! It's so weird..."

"Did you go there to study plants?" Neville looked shocked. "How'd you know?" Harry gave him a pointed look. "Nev, it's _you_."

"...oh."

Suudenly the door banged open, revealing Hermoine and Draco, who stumbled into the apartment. "Harry! Guess what happ- Hi, Neville!"

Neville raised his hand in greeting. "Hey, Hermoine." His gaze shifted slightly to Draco, and his eyes widened. "Harry...I think I'm seeing things. Draco Malfoy's in here!"

Harry laughed. "Yes, I know. Sit down, you two!" Hermoine took a seat beside Neville, and Draco plooped down gracfully next to Harry. Neville couldn't stop staring. "Why are you here?"

Draco slung a pale arm across Harry's ahoulders and leaned in. "I'm with Harry." Harry rolled his eyes.

Neville's eyes widened even further. "B-but..."

Hermoine trained her sweet brown eyes on Neville's confused face. "They're vampiric mates, Nev."

Neville sputtered and stuttered for a good minute while looking between Harry and Hermoine to see if it was joke. Finally he calmed down enough to say, in a tight voice, "That's...great. Really."

Harry glanced at Neville pointely. "Don't tell." The Gryffinador held up two fingers. "Scout's promise."

Draco looked at Neville's fingers. "What the fuck's a scout?"

"Never mind."

"Neville," said Hermoine, "how was your summer?"

"Fun! I went to South Carolina to study plants with my grandmum." Hermopine looked interested. "What kinds of plants are native to South Carolina?"

"Well, there's this weird one that called a Volcania. When someone tries to pick it, it squirts a red, sticky liquid and it burns the person who's threatening it. It's so funny looking! I have a picture of me trying to pick it...before I found out what it does." He made a face, and pulled out a small wallet sized photo. Hermoine took it and smiled. "Oh, Nev. Will you ever learn?"

"Lemme see!" Draco took it and laughed good-naturedly. "Longbottom, you look so surprised!"

Neville looked sour, "Well, it's to be expected, since I-"

"What's this, a party I didn't get invited to?"

Hermoine looked indifferent. "Hi, Ron." Ron smirked in what he thought was a sexy way. "Hermoine," he purred, "you look amazing."

Hermoine snuck a glance at Harry only to see him averting his eyes towards the window. Draco looked pissed. Neville looked confused.

"Nev, my man! Whassup?" Harry grimaced and sent an apologetic look at Draco. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Um, Hermoine, don't get scared, but there's a _ferret_ next to you," stated Ron, giving Draco the evil eye.

"But she does have a _weasel_ in front of her."

"Shut up! Go lick the Dark Lord's shoes, you filthy Death Eater!" Ron shot back. Draco jumped up, hands balled into fists, ready to hit any part of Ron he could get his hands on.

Suddenly Harry stood up, a furious look on his face. "Leave."

Ron nodded empathetically. "Yeah, you fucking ferret," he crowed, "leave!"

Harry's eyes darkened to a dangerously deep shade of green. "Not Draco. You. I want you gone."

Ron's eye widened. "But, mate! I'm your _best_ friend! You can't throw me out!"

Harry surrupticiously reached for his wand, which Draco held out to him behind his back. "Oh yeah? Watch me. _Expelliarmus!_"

Ron flew back into the solid wooden door, and Draco could hear something crack. He winced.

The redhaired Gryffindor stood up shakily, staring at Harry. "Maybe I _will _leave."

"I won't stop you." Ron gave him one last glance, a 'last-chance-to-be-my-friend' look. Then he left.

Harry exhaled and sank into the seat cushions. Everyone stared at him. Draco gingerly set his hand on Harry's shoulder, only to find him shaking. "Harry...?"

"I don't ever want to have to do that again."

Hermoine stared at Harry, a placating look on her face. "Harry...I...I think you were a teeny bit harsh." Harry looked up sharply. "I know I was, but you know what? I couldn't stop myself. I can't stand him."

Neville still looked confused, and a little bit scared. "Um, I thought Ron was your friend...what was that about?"

"I'll tell you what that was about. Last year, I outed myself." At the strange looks he recieved, Harry sighed. "I told him I thought I was gay," he clarified. Draco's hand tightened on his shoulder.

"He wouldn't believe me. At first he thought I was kidding. 'Gay? _You_? You're joking, mate!' I said 'no, I'm not joking. _I'm gay_.'"

Harry sighed, and his shoulders slumped dangerously. "Finally he believed me. 'You're a bloody _fag_!' he screamed at me. 'I can't _believe_ I was _friends_ with a fag like you!' He probably only came in here because he either forgot our conversation, or he drank too much butterbeer."

Hermoine leaned over and hugged him.

"I just wanna sleep," moaned Harry when Hermoine released him. Draco shifted some pillows around and gently pushed Harry down onto the cushions. "Sleep, sleep, little darling," he whispered, tracing Harry's chin.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Harry...Harry...we're here."

Harry opened his unfocused emerald eyes to see Draco standing over him, delicately shaking his shoulder. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty."

"Hey yourself," smiled Harry as he threw his arms up over his head in an effort to stretch them out. Beyond Draco's magnificent blonde head, he could faintly see the lit up outline of Hogwarts.

"My home and my hell." Harry's arms flopped weakly by his sides. Draco grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. "Let's go. I want a carriage in the front."

"But we could make so much more of an entrance if we were the last ones in," protested Harry.

"Fine. But let's go before we're stuck walking up to Hogwarts."

Once they got off the train, Harry could feel a light mist falling on him. "On second thought, I'd rather walk."

Draco lookd dubiously out into the darkness. "You sure?"

"Postive!" Harry affirmed as he grabbed Draco's warm, soft hand and dragged him outside the tiny station. Laughing, Harry jumped into and ankle deep puddle and splashed Draco, who unwillingly jumped in after him. Harry threw his arms out, enjoying the feel of rain trickling down his back. His hair was plastered to his head, and water was running down his hollow cheeks.

"Harry," whispered Draco. Harry almost couldn't hear him over the sound of the rain. "What?"

"You're beautiful." Harry smiled sheepishly. "May I kiss you, Dray?"

"Would I ever say no?"

Harry's lips met Draco's and both boys wrestled for dominance. Harry nibbled on Draco's lower lip, and the blonde boy opened his mouth. Harry wound his hands around Draco's waist, and Draco copied the motion around Harry's neck. They kissed until oxygen became a necessity, and they broke apart, their arms still around each other.

"Harry-" Draco was silenced when Harry placed his index finger on his swollen lips. "You don't have to speak," he said, "because I can feel your heart beat."

Draco rested his head on Harry's shoulders, gladly letting the taller boy hold him close. The minutes ticked by, and finally Draco seemed to remember something. "Harry! We have to get to Hogwarts!"

The other boy seemed to remember this tiny fact. "Shit!" He grabbed Draco's hand and they sprinted towards the castle.

Several minutes later, they reached the closed, gigantic doors of Hogwarts, completely out of breath. "Can't..._breathe_!" gasped Draco as he hunched over and grasped his knees. Harry leaned heavily against the doors, breathing slowly.

Suddenly, the doors opened and revealed a very pissed off Snape. "Were you gentleman," he growled, "planning on joining the rest of the congregation for dinner?"

Harry saluted him. "Good ta see ya, Snapey!" Draco nearly feel over into the mud laughing.

Snape bristled. "Mr. Potter-"

"Lecture me later, old man, what's for dinner?" said Harry as he pushed past Snape and into the dry entrance. "Come on, Draco! I'm hungry!"

Draco joined him and they jogged towards the doors of the Great Hall. Behind the heavy wood, they could hear the conversations of who know how many students. They looked behind them to see Snape walking towards them with a purposeful stride. "He's pissed!" whispered Harry.

"Well, let's go in before he gets even madder!" Draco whispered back. Without a second thought, Harry pushed open the doors and both boys cooly walked into the hall. Immediately, all conversations stopped; everyone's focus was on the boys, who had shown up when dinner was half over, soaking wet, with gleeful looks on their faces. A second later, hasty conversation started up, everyone trying to pretend they weren't just staring at the boys.

Harry strode towards Gryffindor with a confident smile on his face and a gleam in his eye; Drcao copied him, only going to the Slytherin table. As soon as both boys sat down, the doors burst open again, this time revealing a _very_ angry looking Snape, who walked briskly to the Head table. He gave a swift glance around, and a first year started crying.

Harry caught Draco's eye across the silent hall, and smiled.

McGonagall stood up,a stern look on her face. "Attention, students! Continue with your feast, and _stop gossiping_! Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, please meet with me in the head office once the mela is through!"

Harry laughed, thoroughly enjoying the whispers he and Draco had just caused. Draco grinned.

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Wow. Harry was an asshole, wasn't he? Sorry, it was gonna happen sooner or later. **

**I think this was a pretty long chapter. Review, please!**

**Click that button. That one right there...the purple one.**


	15. Chapter 15 : Hunting

**I'm so full of ideas right now I can't right them all down! This is a HUGE difference form last chapter, I couldn't think of ANYTHING! I have almost three pages in my journal on whihc I've scribbled ideas from my late, late night thoughts. They mostly occur around... 3:30 AM? Meh, at least I'm thinking.**

**Answers/lyrics from last chapter(underlined):**

**1 - **Draco shrugged. "It's just...sometimes I give into sadness, somtimes I don't. That's it. Really," he added as Harry gave him a 'look'. Seeing that Draco was being serious, Harry let out a huge sigh**. (Lyric courtesy of 'Everything' by Fefe Dobson.)**

**2 - **"I just wanna sleep," moaned Harry when Hermoine released him. Draco shifted some pillows around and gently pushed Harry down onto the cushions. "Sleep, sleep, little darling," he whispered, tracing Harry's chin. **(Lyric courtesy of 'Light Sleeper' by Hawthorne Heights.)**

**3 - **"Harry-" Draco was silenced when Harry placed his index finger on his swollen lips. "You don't have to speak," he said, "because I can feel your heart beat." **(Lyric courtesy of 'Decembers' by Hawthorne Heights.)**

**There we have it! Those are the answers for last chapter ... is _anyone _still playing the game? ...**

**MOOD SETTER: 'So Far Away' by Crossfade.**

**Oh, yeah, old Dumby's not dead. Not in this story. :)**

**._XDXHX._**

**Chapter Fifteen : Hunting**

_**.XDXHX.**_

"The both of you were extremely irresponsible! How dare you interrupt dinner, showing up sopping wet..."

"We were looking for my wand, Professor, and we missed the carriages! Honest!" pleaded Harry. Draco stood by his side, nodding profusely. "He's telling the truth."

McGonagall whipped around, her dark red robe billowing out. It reminded Draco of Snape's robes. He shuddered. "Don't think I don't know your situation," she said, her brown eyes sparkling triumphantly. She pointed at Draco, who looked shocked at the address. "Your father told me everything."

Harry looked pleased and pissed at the same time. "Well, at least we don't have to explain ourselves."

"Oh, no, you still have to do that. Just not as much," answered McGonagall, sparing her favorite Gryffindor a small smile. The group reached McGonagall's office, and she pulled a key that was on a chain from around her neck and unlocked the door. "Come in and sit down, gentlemen."

Both boys complied, not wanting to anger her, and settled in two seats that were made of wood, and not very comfortable. Draco moved a bit, trying to find a comfortable-ish spot, but gave up. Harry was sitting ramrod straight, having already found the only position that wouldn't give someone a back injury. McGonagall sat across from the boys, her gaze shifting from Harry to Draco and back again.

"I see that you two are comfortable." Harry smirked. "That's debatable." Draco remained silent.

"Mr. Potter, please refrain from using sarcasm in my presence," frowned McGonagall. Harry didn't say anything.

"Now, I've had Mr. Filch find some rooms in a less-used part of the castle-"

"Why?" Draco said. "Why can't we effing stay in our own dorms?"

"Because, Mr. Malfoy, there's no way you two can cohabitate with normal witches and wizards and not harm them. Does that answer your question?" Draco nodded, a meek "yes" tumbling from his lips.

"As I was saying, Mr. Filch has kindly found some dorms near the dungeons, but close to the kitchens. Will they be suitable?"

"How big are they?" asked Harry.

"They're of a fair size; not huge, mind you, but certainly not small, either. Shall I escort you young gentleman there?"

Both boys nodded, and all three of them were out of the office faster than you could say 'Quidditch'.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Your rooms are connected by a bathroom. I hope this will be suitable for the both of you?"

Draco nodded empathically. "Yes. Yes, it's perfect." Harry didn't say anything; he was too busy studying a painting that resided next to a comfy looking bed.

"I trust you'll have everything you'll need for tonight. You'll find that all your belongings have been unpacked and put away by a few doting house elves. Remember that classes start tomorrow. Goodnight," said McGonagall. Then she stalked out of the room, heading to her office.

Draco turned to Harry. "Well, which room do you want?" Harry shrugged. "Don't really care, as long as it has a fireplace."

Draco pointed to the room further down the hall. "I know for a fact that that room has a huge fireplace in it, and it's decorated in black." Harry grinned at Draco and walked off. "Catch you later."

Harry entered his room for the year, glancing around in disinterest. There was a large bed off to the right, covered in a black quilt and made to look grand with a sheer black canopy over it. Bingo, who Lucius had personally delivered to Hogwarts to protect her form 'the hustle and bustle of the station', was sleeping sounldy on the bed. True to Draco's word, there was huge fireplace across from the room's entrance, already ablaze. Harry glanced to the other side of the room; there were two grand-looking dressers with ornate carvings on the sides that seemed to dance in the fire's golden light. Between the dressers was a closet with a mirrored door. Harry could see his reflection, his face pale and almost unrecognizable. His eyes seemed dim, and were a dull green instead of the usual sparkling emerald. He sighed.

"New fucking moon."

Harry padded over to the big window that was beside his bed, the only splash of color from the otherwise black, blank walls. The boys were situated on the first floor of the castle, and as Harry looked out into the dark grounds, he couldn't make out much except for a few trees. Harry fingered the blue drapes absentmindedly.

Harry glanced around the room once more, and noticed a painting. It was interesting enough, a picture of a battle long past, lions and shields dotting the landscape. Harry looked closer. There were Roman gladiators, defending the great Colesuem from hordes of invading nationalities.

An owl hooted somewhere in the near distance; Harry could hear it through the thick glass with his not-so-normal hearing. He swore. "I can't put it off for much longer."

He walked over to the bed, scratched Bingo behind her delicate ears. She stretched gracefully and jumped to Harry's side, purring all the while. Harry distractedly traced her tiny chin with his finger. She attacked his arm, biting him and scratching him with her hind paws.

"Watch it, you crazy cat, I need that arm!" Harry growled at Bingo as he tried to wrestle his arm away. Bingo bit him harder, knowing it was a play session. After a few more minutes of biting and wrestling, Bingo got bored and hopped off the bed, instead preferring to attempt to climb the drapes. Harry pried her claws loose from the threads only for her to jump out of his arms and keep climbing. He gave up after four times.

A knock came at the door, a portrait dipicting a gladiator in full uniform, his right foot balanced on a helmet of gold, a silver sword in his hand. Said gladiator appeared in an empty frame, dragging his sword on the ground. "Sir, there is a young blonde man outside, requesting your presence."

Harry sat on the bed and stuck his hands in his still wet jeans pockets. "Yes, let him in."

Immediately, the gladiator came alive. "At once!" he shouted. He ran out of the portrait frame, his sword held high, brandishing it like a whip. "To Roma!"

Harry stared at the now empty frame and shook his head. "I don't _wanna_ know."

"Hey, Harry. Like your room?"

Harry simply nodded, then said, "You realize it's the new moon?" Draco walked over to the window, staring into space. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

Harry stood up and walked over to his closet and opened the mirrored door, pulling out a black zip-up hoodie. He put it on, watching himself in the mirror. He turned to face Draco, who had been staring at him with careful eyes the whole time.

"With your tight jeans, hoodie, and long hair, Harry, you look like one of those 'emo' people Hermoine told me about," said the blonde boy. Harry gave him a look. "What? I think they sound awesome."

"That was random."

Draco shrugged. "Eh."

Harry strode towards the door, his hands inside his pockets. His thin fingers grasped the doorknob, and he was about to turn it when he heard Draco's voice.

"Where're you going?"

"Astronomy tower. Wanna come with?"

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Why are we here?"

"Why the hell not?"

"Good point."

"I'm really thirsty."

"Well, let's go to the kitchens."

"Not that kind of thirsty," whispered Harry. He was laying on his back, his head on his folded arms. He could feel the chilliness of the astronomy tower's floor seep into his back, which had long ago been frozen stiff.

Draco sat up. He'd been laying in the same position as Harry, and his back screamed in agony when he moved. He chose to ignore the pain for now, and instead focused all his attention on Harry, who wouldn't look him in the eye. Harry was staring straight up into the heavens, his eyes gradually turning more and more dull in color.

"D'you want to...?"

"Argh," moaned the ebony haired boy as he sat up, "I guess. What's to drink around here?"

"Well, I don't really know," said Draco as he stood up, stretched, and and walked over to the extremely large glass-less window in the tower. "I think I see some deer," he stated, surveying the grounds.

Harry got up and joined Draco at the window. He turned his head and caught Draco's eyes. "What time is it?" Draco glanced at the horizon. "About midnight, I'd say." Harry nodded.

"Ready?"

Draco nodded. Harry took the blonde boy's hand in his, and jumped form the ledge of the tower, landing gracefully on the grass, wet from the rain. Both boys took off running, still hand in hand, towards the Forbidden Forest.

When they reached the expanse of trees, they stopped. Harry let go of Draco's hand and dove into the forest, already sniffing out his prey. He could see her through the trees, a doe about a year old. An unfortunate run-in with an angry creature of the forest had left her with an open wound.

Harry's mouth twitched, and he ran towards the doe. Since he could literally run like the wind, she didn't hear him approach until his head was against her neck.

The doe scrambled to get away, but Harry clutched her to him. Fangs were pressed against her neck. She gave one last fight, and collapsed. Harry growled territorily and bit her.

Draco left his post by the trees and dived into the forest, searching for his own prey. He walked for awhile, and found yet another dying deer. The older buck lifted his antlers and grunted. Draco hissed, his fangs elongating out of his gums. The buck's eye widened, and Draco lunged for its neck.

_**.XDXHX.**_

An hour later, Draco trudged up to the Quidditch field, exhausted from hunting. The rain was still coming down steadily, leaving muddy puddles everywhere. There was a harsh, yet warm, wind accompanying the rain, and sent the precipatation in a horizontal direction. The wind whipped the grass on the lawns, making it look like fields of grain. _Just green and wet,_ thought Draco.

He could see a slight disturbance in the air before him, but he couldn't make it out. It almost looked as if someone were standing in mid air...

Draco walked slowly, trying to gauge the floating..._thing's_ reaction. It wasn't until he got closer that he could see that the thing had sneakers on. "Well, that rules out a werewolf, now, doesn't it?" he muttered to himself sarcastically.

He could clearly see Harry now. His arms were outstretched, and he was spinning slowly in the wind, his eyes closed and a serene smile upon his face. The only strange thing about the whole situation was that Harry was a foot in the air. His feet weren't anywhere near the ground.

Draco watched Harry as he twirled in the air, his jaw dropping. Harry seemed to be rising slightly, and now looked to be about a foot and a half in midair. Harry's eyes opened again, and Draco was pleased to see that they were the usual emerald green, perhaps brighter. His cheeks were aglow with a pink flush. Draco thought Harry looked beautiful.

Gradually, Harry descended back to solid ground, and Draco decided to make himself known.

"I've never seen you do that before," he said, stepping out of the shadows of the Quidditch stands. Harry looked at him, his eyes sparkling.

"No, I don't think you have."

He was now fully on the ground, and he faced Draco, his hands delving into his pockets. Harry glanced down at the ground, and back up at Draco, smiling impishly. "I suppose you would like an explanation?"

Draco crossed his arms across his chest casually, and leaned to the side. "An explanation wouldn't go unappreciated."

Harry shrugged. "Okay. You'll get an explanation. But not now," he added as he watched Draco frown. Suddenly he had an idea.

"Hey, Dray, wanna fly?"

Draco looked shocked. "Do I wanna _what_?" Harry cocked his head and smiled innocently. "Fly."

"And how do you propose I do that?" Draco asked, his arms still crossed. Harry grinned and stepped forward until his arms were around Draco's waist.

"Like this."

And Harry pushed against the ground, gripping Draco, and they took off into the sky. Draco looked down; they were about twelve feet off the earth. He twisted himself around in Harry's grip and faced the ebony-haired enigma.

Draco gasped; he'd never seen Harry so..._free_. His expression was an exact mirror image of before; his eyes were bright, his cheeks were flushed, and a huge smile was on his lips. Harry looked at Draco, and the blonde boy was pleased to see Harry's eyes had returned to their usual stunning emerald.

"Enjoying yourself, Dray?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, his eyes on Harry's, "but how exactly are we flying?"

"Take a look," smirked Harry.

Draco peeked behind Harry, and saw a most disturbing sight. There were _wings_, small, feathery, black _wings_ protruding from Harry's back. He gasped and reached out to touch them. They looked so soft, and they were so shiny, like silk...

Suddenly the silky wings were wrenched backwards, further and further from Draco's fingers. He looked up to see Harry with a pained expression on his face. "Dont...don't touch them, please, they still hurt..."

Draco wrapped his arms around Hary's neck and squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel Harry's arms around his middle, a comforting weight. They floated for another minute, and Draco began to feel a swooping sensation in his lower abdomen, the result of descent from a high altitude.

Finally, gradually, Draco felt his feet graze the face of the earth again. The pair were surrounded in a small wind from Harry's wings, making their hair move weakly.

When both boys were fully on the ground, Harry collapsed, taking Draco with him. Harry landed on his back, with Draco stumbling on top of him, and the boys ended up in a tangle of limbs.

After trying to figure out whose arms were whose and attempting to pry their legs apart, Harry laughed and fell backward on his elbows, gazing at the sky. Draco glanced at him, then settled his head on Harry's stomach, enjoying the warmth enamating from the ebony-haired boy. Harry traced Draco's ear with his index finger, both boys just enjoying the silence.

The rain had stopped now; all that was left to show there _was _any rain at all was a low, light fog that hung in the air. The grass was wet and muddy, making sneakers filthy almost as soon as one would step outside.

Draco could clearly see the sky from where he lay, now that the clouds had been swept away by an unseen wind. Stars were shining in the black sky like glitter on velvet.

Harry let his fingers roam; he traced Draco's jawline, ears, and lips. Everything felt so soft.

Everything felt so perfect.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Potter," drawled Snape the next morning. Harry was late to potions, and was in a murderous mood.

"Gee, _Professor_, I overslept. I'm oh so sorry, would you like me to lick your boots?"

Snape's palid face tightened, and two splotches of red appearred on his cheeks. "To you seat, Potter, and twenty points from Gryffindor!"

Harry stalked to his seat, mocking Snape on the way.

Everyone had different reactions to Harry's new attitude; Ron's mouth was gaping, Hermoine was smirking not unlike that of a Malfoy, Neville was staring, and Draco was trying not to laugh out loud. All of the other students, however, regardless of their houses, were glancing at one another and whispering.

Snape was livid that a student would be snarky to him. "Turn to page fifteen of you textbook, take notes, and _be quiet_."

Harry flipped to page fifteen, his head bobbing slightly to an unheard song. Snape sat at his desk, trying to keep his wand hand down in order not to hex the Potter twit to the next dimension. _Little bastard, how dare he sass me? I'm his superior!_

The perios passed quietly and quickly; no one wanted to anger Snape, not even Harry. When Snape dismissed them, Harry hung back, looking for Draco. However, the blonde boy had been one of the first to exit the room. Sighing in dismay, Harry headed towards the door.

"What do you want, Potter?"

Harry shot Snape a nasty glare. "How about a normal life?"

In the bewildered silence that followed, Harry marched out the door.

_**XHXDX**_

Harry couldn't spend alot of time searching for Draco. He was only a minute away form being late to Transfiguration.

"I hope you realize, Mr. Potter, that you just narrowly missed being late to my class," said McGonagall, thirty seconds later as Harry ran into the packed classroom. All the students turned in their seats to look at the Boy Who Lived, which only served to further darken the Gryffindor's mood.

"What the hell are you staring at?" he growled to the majority of kids.

Hermoine was unaffected by his snarkiness. "Here, Harry, I saved you a seat."

"Thanks."

McGonagall strode to the front of the room where a chalkboard was situated. "Today's lesson is transfiguring yourself. Now that you are seventh years, I hold you in high regard as to your magical ability. Yes, even you, Longbottom," she said, as Neville's shoulders slumped. "For today, however, you will only be taking notes, so I don't want to see anyone's wand."

And with that last statement, McGonagall tapped the chalkboard with her wand, and neat cursive writing filled the surface. The students' heads bent down, copying their notes for the day, all except for one.

"Miss Granger, why aren't you writing these notes down? They're quite important."

Hermoine sighed as if everyone in the vicinity was an idiot. "I already know this material, Professor. I don't need to take down notes, because I've memorized the book."

Everyone except Harry and Draco stared in shock. They, of course, know that from the moment Hermoine laid her hands on any textbook, she devoured it like oxygen. Harry expected nothing less than superior intellect from his best friend.

McGonagall recovered quickly from this announcement, and took on a determined kind of look. "Alright, Miss Granger, I'll believe you, only because of your past performance. However, I want you to answer one question."

Hermoine waited expectantly, her eyes wide. When McGonagall saw she wasn't going to get a "Yes, Professor?", she forged ahead.

"What is the spell to transfigure one's entire body to that of someone else's?"

"_Refermus Complites_, pronounced Ree-FER-moose Con-PLEA-tis. You must wave your wand counter-clockwise with a fairly fast pace."

McGonagall stared in shock at Hermoine, who was trying to fight a smug grin off her face, but was rapidly failing. After a moment, the Professor regained her composure and continued to question Miss Granger.

"While you may know the theory, Miss Granger, can you actually perfom the spell on yourself?"

Hermoine nodded and stood up, leaving her wand on the desk. Catching Harry's eye, she grinned and closed her eyes.

Then there were two Harrys.

The real Harry gasped, making people laugh. The fake Harry grinned impishly and glanced at the Professor, who looked ready to keel over form shock.

The fake Harry closed his eyes again and then Hermoine appeared.

"Miss Granger! See me after class! Everyone, _get back to work!_"

_**.XHXDX.**_

By the time that lunch had arrived, Harry was exhausted. _Yeesh, Potions, Tranfiguartion, Herbology, DADA, all in one fucking morning!_

"What'd you think McGonagall did to Hermoine?" asked Seamus as he buttered a roll.

"I have no idea, really. Probably took her to Dumbledore," answered Harry. If McGonagall _really_ took Moine up to Dumbledore, he wouldn't be surprised. Of course, he was worried about the whole Dumbledore-staring-at-Moine's-boobs things, but Hermoine was a big girl; she could handle it.

Hopefully.

The Hermoine that he knew would make a huge fuss about this. If she got worked up enough, she'd probably hex someone. Harry hoped she wouldn't.

"Harry, are you going to eat that?" said Seamus, pointing to his plate, on which sat a shepard's pie. Harry shook his head slowly. "No, Seamus, go ahead."

Harry stood up and collected his bag.

"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Dean Thomas through a mouthful of food. He swallowed and glanced at Harry. "You look...off. Is something up?"

Harry smiled ruefully and started to walk towards the doors of the Great Hall. "It's more like what _isn't_ wrong, Dean. See you."

_**.XHXDX.**_

It seemed that Harry had only just fallen asleep later that day when obnoxious knocking woke him.

"What the hell? Where's my little gladiator man to tell me these kinds of things?" Harry mumbled as he rubbed his temple. _Great, now on top of everything else, I have a headache. What else could fucking go wrong? _He glanced at the clock on his dresser. It read nine thirty-three. "Oh, damn. I slept through my study period _and_ dinner. Fucking A!"

"Harry! Dammit, Harry! Open up this goddamn portrait!"

"Gladiator man! Let this lady in!"

"At once, sir!"

A minute later, Hermoine burst into Harry's room, panting and slightly flushed. "Harry! You won't believe what happened!" The harried witch glanced at Harry and saw that he was, indeed, wearing that pink polo, like he'd told her he would.

"Uh...would you want to sit down, Moine? You look..."

"Horrible? Yeah, I know. Some Slytherin had the audacity to tell me when I was running down here. You know, in all my years at Hogwarts, I've never realized jsut how far away the damned headmaster's office is!" Hermoine plopped down on Harry's bed, and Bingo lept up and sniffed her fingers.

Harry leaned against the wall. "So, what is that's so unbelieveable?"

Hermoine beamed. "Well, you know that my birthday was in early July, right?"

"Yeah, July fifth. What about it? Aw, crap. I forgot to get you a gift!"

Hermoine waved her hand impatiently. "Forget it. I'll hold you on it on a raincheck." She grinned. "But that's not what's so unbelievable. You do realize, right, that I wasn't in any other classes for the rest of the morning?"

Harry joined her on the bed. "Yeah, you missed Herbology and DADA. I took notes for you, though."

"I appreciate the thought, Harry, very much. But I won't be needing them."

"Huh?"

She sighed. "Harry, I'm a legal witch now! The fact that my birthday was in early July, making me seventeen, makes me a legal witch! And coupled with my performance in Transfiguration..."

Silence. Harry looked at her blankly.

"They want me to be a teacher!"

"WHAT!"

"YES! A teacher! McGonagall called up all the teachers and they gave me their hardest material...and I aced everything! They said they'd never seen anything like it!"

"Moine! That's amazing!" shouted Hrary as he hugged the brown-haired wonder. "Come on, let's go rub it in Draco's face!"

_**.XHXDX.**_

"You're kidding."

"No! They want me to be a teacher! I'd get my own quarters and everything!" Hermoine was bouncing up and down with a huge smile on her face. It almost made Draco want to hug her, at leats to make her stop moving.

"Wow, Granger, that's great. And if I asked nicely, would you help me with homework?"

"If you asked nicely."

"What do they have you doing?"

Hermoine turned to Harry, who was leaning against a wall in a shodawy area. "What's with you and leaning on walls?" Harry shrugged.

"In answer to your question, first-year Potions. I start tomorrow!" She gasped and clasped her hand on her mouth. "I have to owl my parents! Shit, I forgot! See you guys!" she shouted as she dashed down the hall.

"Well, she doesn't waste any time, does she now?"

"No, Draco, she does not."

"It's late. I'm going to bed. Night, Harry."

Draco was ten feet away before he heard Harry whisper, "_Fuck_" quietly.

"What's wrong now? Harry?" The ebony haired boy was staring at a piece of parchment as if it held all the answers to the universe. Draco walked back over to Harry and looked at the messy writing.

"Who sent it?"

Wordlessly, Harry handed him the parchment. Draco read quickly.

_Harry-_

_Be prepared. Soon._

_Sirius_

"What the hell?"

"It could only be one of two things, Dray. The vampires' war, or Voldemort." Both boys fell silent at Hrry's unemotional tone. Finally, after three minutes' silence, Harry sighed.

"I'm exhausted. Goodnight, Dray," he whispered as he placed a gentle kiss on the blonde boy's cheek. "See you tomorrow."

And with that, Harry Potter walked away.

_**.XHXDX.**_

**Dundundun! Oh, snap. I can only imagine next chapter...**

**Review, please!**


	16. Chapter 16 : Legality & Illusions

**DISCLAIMER: I, in no way, shape, or form, own Harry and Co. That magnificent right belongs to the one and only J.K. Rowling.**

**Wow. We know I'm a dumbass when I went to Solitaire instead of WordPad...my bad.**

**Welp, high school is amazing. My classes are easy, my teachers are sweet, and the boys are gorgeous **

**Please bear with me, I know I said that this chapter wouold be out by mid-September, but it's already the seventeenth, but I have an escuse! I just joined the newspaper at my school, and I'm doing book reviews. Therefore, I have to read this ultimately boring book called The Dive from Clausen's Pier. Also, my romantic life has just picked up, and it's kind of busy.**

**Also, I have homework.**

**The setter of moods(bwahaha) - 'Bleed Like Me' by Garbage. **

**Chapter Sixteen: Legality**

_**.XHXDX.**_

"Rucker, Janie!"

"Here!"

"Tibble, Mark!"

"Present!"

"Vangera, Brittany!"

"Crystal!"

_So this is what I have to deal with, _thought Hermoine Granger as she surveyed the first years sitting before her. _Ronald was right, they do look twitchy. Like mice on speed._

"Welcome to Hogwarts, first years! I know that the road ahead looks very rough and confusing, but these really are the best years of your lives! As long as you pay attention and do your work, I promise that this year will be just fine!"

Hermoine looked around at the group of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors in front of her. She hadn't expected _applause_, for Merlin's sake, but the students could at least be awake to hear her first speech as a teacher!

A girl in the back yawned, and Professor Granger frowned.

"Wake up, students! I know it's early, but-"

She was interrupted when a boy two aisles away from her collapsed on his desk, snoring. A Potions textbook fell to the floor with a dull _thud_.

Hermoine pulled a Snape and barked, "_Wake up_! Have you no _idea_ how useful this class is?"

She stalked forward and slammed her open palm on the boy's desk. He woke up with a jerk and looked around blearily. Hermoine glowered at him.

"Mr. Bueller, do you think you could fit your academic career into your bursting agenda? I suggest you start paying attention, because I can make this year hell for you." The eleven year old boy flushed and bent over to get his book.

"I hope you find this subject very interesting, class, otherwise you'll be spending alot of time in my office for _detention_," stated Hermoine as she walked to the front of the room. The _mice on speed_ stared at her in fear.

"Notes," she waved her wand, "are on the board. Write them neatly. If you should finish early, read chapter one in your textbooks."

Professor Granger stomped to her desk and plunked down into the chair. Ten minutes later, Brittany Vangera leaned back in her chair, stretched, and plucked her book from her bag and began to read.

Hermoine was deep in thought about her teaching methods. _Yeesh, now I know why Snape enjoys torturing us so much. Oh, sweet Merlin, I hope I don't have to deal with any twitchy little know-it-all clone of me. If I do, I swear my nose will get bigger and my hair will get greasier. And then I'd be rally pissed._

"Professor?"

Hermoine looked up from her musings and nearly fell over. There was a student in front of her! _Oh damn, how long have I been out?_

"Uh, what do you what, er, Lisa, is it?" The girl nodded.

"I've been standing in front of you for almost five minutes, Professor." At Hermoine's blank look, Lisa continued. "I was wondering if I could go to the Hospital Wing. My finger's bleeding."

And true to her word, Lisa stuck out her finger, which was covered in red liquid.

Hermoine waved her to the door. "Don't get in any trouble, Miss Kenten."

"I won't, Professor Granger."

Five minutes had passed until Hermoine smelled it.

Usually blood has a metallic, coppery smell. Fake blood, however, smells of plastic.

Hermoine smelled plastic.

_**.XHXDX.**_

"I hope this note burns."

"Well, aren't we a little pyro?"

"Shut your face, Draco. I'm trying to think."

"No, you're not thinking. You're wallowing in misery, and it's making me mad."

Harry looked up from the note he had recieved from Siruis the day before and peered at Draco. The blonde sat in front of him with his face in his hands.

"Let's do something. What do we have after this study period?"

"Herbology."

"Then let's go piss off Hermoine!" pleaded Draco as he grabbed Harry's hand.

"Fine. But only if I get to bug her first," said Harry as he was being pulled up from his seat in the Great Hall.

Harry and Draco were sitting at the Sly therin table. The only other house occupants that were in the Great Hall were on the other end of the long table, occasionally shooting the boys furitve glances.

Before Harry and Draco could so much as pack away their books, the grand doors to the Hall opened then shut with quick succession. Harry turned to see a brown haired ball of fury stomping towards them.

"Oh my god, it's Hurricane Hermoine!" said Draco.

"Fuck off, blondie, I'm so angry I could hex your scrawny ass."

"You're a teacher, Moine. You can't hex students," Harry pointed out. Hermoine slowly turned to him, her wand pointed at him, its tip glowing slightly.

"Says who?"

"Dumbledore."

"I'll hex his scrawny ass too."

"Now that this is settled, dearhearts, let's get to some serious studying," said Draco, in the hopes that Harry and Hermoine would can it.

"Go study my ass," retorted Hermoine.

Draco pretended to look horrified. "I don't swing that way!"

"Then shut up and let me _vent_!" shouted Hermoine.

"Rawr," whispered Harry, making claws with his fingers. "Time of the month, eh, Moine?"

Hermoine hit him with his book.

"That was so uncalled for, _Professor_," said Harry as he rubbed his ear. Hermoine flatly stared at him.

"Stick it in your juicebox and suck it, Harry. You have no idea how bad my morning was."

Harry looked offended and huffed. "Well, I never!"

Draco looked on in mock interest. "Wow. My boyfriend is a drama queen."

"And damn proud of it."

"You know something? Ron was ight. Those damned little first years _are_ twitchy. They remind me of mice on speed."

Draco raised and eyebrow and placed his chin in his hand aristocratically. "Have you ever even _seen_ mice on speed, Hermoine?"

"Yes, I have. I call them first years," stated Hermoine and she grabbed a piece of parchment form Harry's bag and lit it on fire, then extinguished it, then repeated the process.

"I shall name you Mr. Bueller," she said to the paper as she poked it with her wand. "And you shall burn."

By this point, Harry and Draco looked very scared.

"And you say I'm the pyro?" Harry whispered to the blonde. Draco grimaced.

"Can we change the subject, Hermoine?"

"One minute," she said, and burned the parchment to ashes. "Bye bye, Mr. Bueller."

Harry edged his seat away form Hermoine.

"Okay, I'm done. I swear," she added at Draco's disbelieving look.

"Can I come back now?" yelled Harry from his position on the other side of the Hall at the Ravenclaw table.

"Yes!" Draco yelled back.

"What?" screamed Harry as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "I can't hear you from this far! Professor Granger scared me away!"

Hermoine laughed. "Get over here!" Harry obeyed and sat next to Draco.

The three of them stared at each other for a minute, then Draco spoke up. "There's a Hogsmeade outing the weekend in September. Is everyone present going?"

"I'm waiting for you to ask me, Draco! God, you're so _insensitive_!" said Harry, pretending to cry in his hands. Draco looked scandalized.

"Oh, Harry, if only you had said so! Please go with me!"

"Well, now that you've broken my heart, I don't know!" Harry continued to 'cry'.

"I'll make it up to you! I'll love you forever!" said Draco, trying not to laugh.

"Like you have a choice," said Hermoine as she rolled her eyes at the boys in front of her. Harry laughed.

"Exactly what I was thinking," he said before kissing Draco's nose.

"Aw, how cute, do something else before I puke from the sweetness," said Hermoine. "Back to Hogsmeade, please!"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am," saluted Harry. Draco looked at Harry's hand.

"What did you just do?"

Harry sighed. "Moine, I think we need to dump Draco in the nearest all-Muggle city. He wouldn't last ten minutes."

"They why would we do it in the first place?" asked Hermoine. "What's the point in that situation?"

"To take bets and make money."

"Ah. Then I'm all for it."

"Whoa whoa whoa," said Draco, waving his arms like a pinwheel, "you are not going to Muggle-fy me!"

"HOGSMEADE!" shouted Hermoine, trying to get the boys attention. _Haha, I made a funny. Boys don't _have_ attention spans!_

"I'm thinking we should get firewhiskey," said the brown haired Professor.

"_There's _something you don't hear Professors say everyday!" said Draco.

"What?" said Hermoine."We're legal."

Hary gasped. "Legal. Oh, how I like the sound of that word..."

Draco threw his fist into the air, and brought it down as he hissed, "Yes. We're _legal_."

"You bet your sweet bippy we're legal," said Hermoine as she pulled a bag full of papers onto the table.

Draco looked at his ass than back at Hermoine, confused. "What's a bippy?" Harry hit his forehead with his palm. "Oy vey..."

"Another time, Draco. Take one of these quizzes and grade it for me, will you? I have so many here..."

Harry grabbed a piece of parchment and gasped. "You're kidding me. These first years are morons!"

"Oh, you have no idea," said Hermoine, sighing in defeat. "My first class _ever_ fell asleep on me."

Harry smirked. "Well, I always knew you'd be a boring professor." Hermoine threw a quiz at him.

"Oh, that hurt. I think you amputated my friggin' arm!"

"As long as it makes you shut up, I don't care."

Draco picked through the slew of papers in Hermoine's bag and grabbed a quill. "No offense to your teaching abilities, Hermoine, but these kids are downright stupid."

The trio spent the rest of the study period grading papers and poking each other with quills, having a grand old time laughing.

_**.XHXDX.**_

"...so you see, sir, I couldnt' do it."

"I know, Lisa Kenten. I know."

Miss Kenten shivered slightly as the liquid, silvery voice dripped down her spine. _Someone help me._

"You failed me. You became a coward."

Lisa bowed her head. "I know, sir."

"You must pay."

"Yes, sir."

"Look at me, Kenten."

Lisa looked up into cold, hard eyes, the eyes that had haunted her as a child. He sized her up, then drew forth his wand.

"Do you know what your punishment shall be, Kenten?"

"Yes, sir, I do," whispered Lisa, her throat suddenly dry with terror.

"_Crucio!_"

Lisa collapsed onto the ground. She felt as is she were on fire, every nerve ending being stabbed with poison tipped daggers. Her brain was being ravaged by spears and what strangely felt like soccer cleats.

A scream bubbled out of her open mouth, the kind of scream you only hear when someone is being killed.

Mirthless laughter flowed through the air, making Lisa's pain strengthen. She screamed again, but then the pain was gone.

She looked up into the icy, hard gaze of Albus Dumbledore. He laughed.

"You will try again."

Lisa opened her parched mouth, her throat bleeding from the screaming, and whispered, "Yes, sir."

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Liven up, Potter!"

Harry looked up from where he was sitting on a bench outside by theQuidditch Pitch. He slipped the letter from Sirius into his pocket as Draco and Hermoine approached, Neville close behind.

Harry half smiled. "Hey...no more classes, Hermoine?"

The brown haired wonder shook her head. "I have the Ravenclaw and Slytherin class in an hour. I do not want to go."

Neville sat down next to Harry and patted him on the shoulder. "Moine and Draco told me about the...the letter."

Harry glanced at Draco in time to see him stick his hands deep into his pockets and look away. "Did you tell him? I don't want this getting out! The last thing I need is that bastard of a Headmaster getting wind of this!"

Hermoine looked indifferent."Harry, get over yourself. The world does not revolve around you. We," she said, pointing to Draco and herself, "told Neville here because _we can trust him_. He's a good guy." Neville nodded enthusiactically.

"Please don't be mad, Harry. I want to help you, just like these two."

Harry was silent, then said, "Do I really have a choice here?"

"No," all three teenagers answered at once.

"I suppose I should be used to not being able to make my own decisions, but alas, I'm not," sighed Harry as he stood up. "Walk with me."

"Where to?" asked Draco as he walked up next to his mate and took hold of his hand. Harry shrugged.

"I dunno, anywhere that's not here."

Draco smiled softly and said, "Fine by me."

Behind them, Hermoine and Neville were arguing about Stinksap's use in Potions. "Nev, you simply can't use that crap in a potion. It'd destroy the chemical balance between the other ingredients and _blam_! You'd be sitting in the middle of an explosion."

Neville shook his head. "Wrong, wrong, wrong. There are documented poitons in whihc Stinksap is the most valuable ingredient, Moine. I thought you'd know that, seeing as you _live_ in the damn library."

Harry looked back at his two bickering friends and smiled. "All is right with the world."

The lake came into view and Draco stopped short, almost making Harry fall. Hermoine and Neville ran into the vampire couple and landed on their asses.

"What the hell, Draco?" shouted Hermoine as she tried to stand up in the wet earth.

The blonde haired boy shook his head and blinked. "I...I don't know. Somethine just happened, or is about to."

Harry let go of Draco's hand and grabbed the other boy. "Who, what, where, when, and why?"

Draco looked past Harry to the lake's eerily smooth surface and said in an eerily calm voice, "I don't know, something bad, the lake, soon, and _him_."

Neville looked fearful. "Who's _him_?"

"Voldemort, obviously," growled Harry. He looked at his friends, both of them trying to look brave and fearless, but Harry really knew that they were shrieking on this inside. Harry looked down at Draco who was in a trance, it seemed. His eyes were clouded over, and had turned a deeper gray.

Suddenly, Draco's eyes refocused on Harry. The ebony haired vampire could see that something was very, _very_ wrong.

"Behind you!" screamed Draco and threw Harry to the left, then collapsing on the ground, passed out.

Harry looked in front of him and saw the most horrifying thing that has ever been know to man.

A great serpent, possibly eighty meters in length, beared down upon the vampire. Its eyes were an acidic, glowing green, and its scaled were the darkest black imaginable. It magnificent tongue slid out, and Harry could see that it wasn't a normal snake's tongue; this one was bright green. _Poison._

Hermoine screamed.

_**.XDXHX.**_

In his lonely tower overlooking the lake, a man laughed.

"I thank you, Lisa, for your help," the man whispered.

"You're welcome, Headmaster."

Dumbledore spun around, his icy blue eyes emanating an evil power, his wand tip glowing slightly. "I have told you never to call me that! I am your lord, your master; you will treat me as such."

Lisa bowed her head and clasped his hands together at her waist, trying to fight back the tears. "Yes, master."

"Don't cry, you worthless little pawn."

A tear made its way down Lisa's pale, clammy face. She knew she would be punished for being weak, but she didn't care anymore: she wanted out of this man's power trip.

"Look me in the eye, Kenten."

Lisa sniffed softly, and elevated her head so that blue eyes pierced her heart.

"Your service is appreciated. You will not be made sorry tonight, my dear."

She nodded and made her way towards the door. "Goodnight, sir."

Dumbledore meerly frowned at the girl and waved his wand so that the door slammed behinf her, wechoing throughtout the room.

He returned to the window and watched Harry's reaction to the king basilisk. He smiled,a horrible, heart stopping smile that brought tidings of death.

"Goodbye, Potter."

_**.XDXHX.**_

Neville had fainted, Draco was passed out cold on the ground, and Hermoine was scared stiff.

Harry was in this alone.

The giant, ugly snake hissed at him, and Harry felt a string of poisonous saliva fly past him. He shuddered in disgust and squared his shoulders.

_"Cease and desist, large one,"_ he said in Parseltounge.

The basilisk continued to hiss at him.

_"Stop where you slither!"_ Harry screamed.

The snake reared its magnificent head and spat back at him, "_You do not command me."_

Harry's blood turned to ice, his heart freezing inside his chest.

Suddenly his animalistic instincts kicked in as the snake went towards Draco. It opened its great jaws and Harry could see silvery strings of spit hanging from its fangs.

_Not Draco. Not him._

Harry ran forward and lunged towards the sanke, his wings ripping from his back through his shirt. He grabebd the basilisk's slimy scales and held on for dear life.

The great beast hissed in anger and tried to turn its body so that it could paralyze Harry with its pulsating green fury. Harry clutched to the snake's neck and ripped a scale off, making the beast scream.

Before the snake could remember what has caused its pain, Harry shoved his mouth onto the snake and bit it until he could see blood. The blood ran down Harry's front, burning his shirt with its acidic poison, but Harry was unaffected. He continued to bite the basilisk until it hissed one last time and fell over, causing Harry to be flung from its scaly neck to the hard ground of Hogwarts.

Hary looked up in time to see a huge, bloody gash in the beast's neck, and to see it sway dangerously before collapsing, twitching in the dirt.

The ebony haired savoir looked to his companions; Neville and Draco were still unconscious, and Hermoine was deathly pale with fright and awe.

He looked down at the feeling of a stinging sensation, and saw a belt of welts across his body, and his shirt hanging from his lanky frame in tatters.

Harry looked up at the sound of unsteady, running footsteps. He knew that Hermoine had just sat down next to him, panting from breathlessness, but he couldn't make his mind register it.

"Harry...? Are you okay? You just took on a basilisk by yourself!" She touched his arm softly, and recoiled quickly. "Merlin, you're freezing!"

Harry peered up at her through his suddenly foggy vision. He could see an outline of a girl, with brown hair, but not much else.

He heard a voice saying what he thought was his name and everything slowly became black.

_**.XHXDX.**_

In his lonely tower overlooking a lonely lake, a very angry old man screamed.

_**.XHXDX.**_

Draco sat in his overstuffed chair as he held his love's hand. Hermoine sat on the other side, tracing patterns into the bedsheet, looking very worried.

Harry was laying between them, unseeing, unknowing, unconscious.

Draco looked around the open and warm Hospital Wing and sighed. He could see Nevillebeing treated for extreme shock to his system, and the boy still looked uneasy.

Harry's hand twitched in his, and Draco's heart sped up, hoping that his mate would wake up so that he could see his beautiful emerald eyes.

Harry's eyes stayed closed.

Hermoine sighed, but Drao wasn't paying attention. He was trying to quell the tears that had fought through the remains of his emotional wall. His eyes stung with unshed tears, but one thought held them fast; _be strong for Harry._

Somewhere something beeped, and Poppy ran out of her office, looking anxious.

"Nothing?" she asked hopefully.

Draco shook his head. Hermoine said nothing.

The nurse sighed in defeat and walked back to her office, shaking her head ans murmuring to herself.

Draco rubbed Harry's cold hand and kissed it softly, holding the hand to his face.

Neville came over, still shaking slightly, and watched Harry's chest move up and down slowly.

"I feel awful," he whispered to no one in particular, his voice hoarse and cracking.

"Me too," said Hermoine, her voice lower than usual because of her crying streak hours earlier.

Draco shook his head slowly. "No one feels worse than I do. If I hadn't fainted from exhaustion because of my crappy talent, I could've helped Harry kill that thing, or at least've gotten him away from it. You two wouldn't have had a chance," he stopped as he caught sight of the crease in Hermoine's forehead, her signature look before she got mad, "you _know_ that. You would have been dead in seconds. That was no ordinary basilisk; you don't just get paralyzed when it looks at you. You die right where you stand."

He looked at his mate sadly, stroking his hand with a steayd rythym.

"We're lucky Harry isn't dead right now."

Hermoine broke down crying and sat on the edge of the bed, her hands covering her face. Neville paled considerable and rubbed his forearm uncomfortably before comforting Hermoine.

Draco laid his head on Harry's skinny chest and let his tears fall, creating a puddle in the middle of Harry's blanket.

Harry's eyelids fluttered briefly, but then all motion stopped.

"He looks so natural," whispered Hermoine, tears still falling freely down her red cheeks.

Draco pushed off Harry's chest and glowered at her, furiously wiping tears from his eyes. "Don't you _dare _say that. You make him sound like he's already dead!"

Hermoine sobbed. "What if he doesn't wake up? He's not even breathing on his own!"

Draco stood up and faced the crying Hermoine. "Then I'll wait for him until he does wake up! I'll never leave his side! He needs me, and I need him!"

Neville shook his head, his eyes worried. "Draco, you know there'sa high chance that Harry won't wake up!" Draco shook his head wildly, refusing to believe that his love could die.

Neville continued, "Stop being unreasonable, Draco! His blood is riddled with basilisk poison, and he looked right into its eyes! Harry should be dead right now, but by some miracle, he's still living!"

"Stop it! You think I don't know this? You think I don't realize this? _I know_!" shouted Draco.

Harry's eyeballs rolled back and forth underneath his eyelids, but then stopped moving.

Draco screamed in frustration and grabbed Harry's hands and squeezed them tightly while whispering in a suddenly cracking voice, "Don't you dare die, Potter! I can't live without you! _I love you_, for Merlin's sake!"

_**.XHXDX.**_

Albus Dumbledore was angry.

No, not just angry; he was _furious._

His desk was a pile of wood splinters, and portraits were knocked off the walls, the occupants complaining loudly.

Lisa Kenten stood in the corner, shaking but trying not to show it. He often became angry, that much was true of the Albus Dumbledore she knew; he never had gotten quite this angry, though.

It was terrifying.

He roared, and then, for someone of such old age, lifted a table without magic and threw it across the room.

It landed hardly a foot away from Lisa.

"Potter has to die!" screamed Dumbledore.

_**.XHXDX.**_

A whole day had passed.

Harry was still unconscious.

Draco had sat by his side for a sold twenty-four hours, and it showed. His hair was messy, he had large bags under his eyes, and his eyes were rimmed in red.

Harry didn't look much better. His hair was limp and sweaty, his face cold and clammy, and he was ghastly white.

The only good thing that had happened was that Harry could now breathe on his own, but every hour Poppy would come in and check his breathing rate. She'd had to magically help him breathe twice.

Draco looked at the watch his father had gotten for him for his birthday. It read eleven fifty-two in the evening.

The ivory colored boy stood up and stretched like a feline, then walked briskly to the wndow to wake up his sleeping legs.

The moon shone brightly, casting an eerie light on the grounds. If he looked hard enough, Draco could see the Headmaster's window, glowing slightly againt the black sky. He sighed.

Draco turned around and paced back and forth for awhile. _What if Hary doesn't wake up? What if he wakes up and has amnesia? What if he dies?_

_What will I do?_

Something fell in the airy Hospital Wing, and Draco turned this way and that to find the source. By the potion cupboard he saw something glowing slightly.

He stepped towards it hesitantly, his wand held out in front of him.

He reached the cupboard and dropped to his knees. The glowing seemed to be coming from a locket.

He waved his hand in the air above it and aorund it, testing for hidden charms, and prodded it with his wand.

Nothing happened.

Cautiously, Draco touched the locket with his finger, expecting a shock or something magical.

The locket continued to glow.

Draco picked it up, ready to throw it and run if need be.

The locket still glowed as it sat in his palm.

Draco sat on his ankles and he opened the clasp on the locket with his thumbnail.

Inside it seemed to glow even more.

A tiny piece of paper fell out of the locket and into Draco's lap. The writing seemed to move across the parchment.

Draco picked up the piece of parchment and look into the locket. There was something engraved on it.

He could barely make it out, he locket being so small, but he knew it read _For Harry._

His hands shook as she dropped the locket onto the stone floor and reached for the parchment. Waving his wand over it, the paper enlarged. It was a letter, Draco realized.

_To whomever recieves this locket:_

_This locket has been sent to him by magic. It's very old magic, so be careful with your wand if you value your life. _

_We sent it because he needs us the most now._

_Place it around his neck. The magic in this locket will heal him faster than anything Poppy does._

_This is of extreme urgency; put this locket on him now, or he will die._

_Yours truly,_

_James and Lily Potter_

Draco looked back at Harry's unconscious form and then back at the locket. He sighed in defeat. He was desperate at this point for something, anything that could help Harry.

Without a second thought, Draco stood up and walked over to Harry. He put the locket on his chest; it seemed to glow a little brighter.

He clasped the locket and stood back.

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Alright, well that's all for now. I'm really sorry that it took so long to update this story, but I completely forgot about for a month of two there.**

**Forgive me?**

**Click that button!**


	17. Author's Note

**DISCLAIMER: Me own nada.**

**Alright, I don't care if my account gets suspended for awhile, but this has to be known: I WILL NOT BE UPDATING FOR A LONG, LONG TIME. My computer's hard drive was recently discovered to have a nasty virus or somthing of that ilk, and had to carted off to some dude to get fixed. I didn't have it for two whole weeks(from which I'm still recovering from), and I lost EVERYTHING. **

**That's right. My old _TLL_ chapters, although I can always get those back because they're on FFnet, my extensive music collection, AND the half-finished Chapter Seventeen is GONE!**

**It was actually more than half decent, too.**

**I won't be updating because I have to remember the plot twist I had thought of, but was forced from my mind because of stress over the past two weeks. Also, I need to think of the chapter's idiosyncrasies in ORDER, and even if I can remember this stuff, there's no guarantee I'll be able to get it up on FFnet for quite some time.**

**I'm extremely sorry about this, as I was looking forward to Chapter Seventeen as much as you were.**


	18. Chapter 18 : Just Live

**Disclaimer: I own nossink.**

**As you may(hopefully) have read from my Author's Note, my computer had a virus and everything had to be deleted and demolished in order to get rid of said virus. That means that I lost Chapter Seventeen, which has more than half done, and all the little idiosyncrasies for Harry I had saved on Notepad. **

**Ugh. Let's just say it's been a hell of a month for this.**

**I'm trying to remember as much as I can about this chapter, so please bear with me if the plot seems a little not-so-great this time around.**

**Mood Setter: "Pollen and Salt" by Daphne Loves Derby.**

_**.XHXDX.**_

**Chapter Seventeen: Just Live**

_**.XHXDX.**_

Tom Riddle was a busy man.

Murdering Muggles, plotting vile crimes - it took alot of of him these days.

But something was bugging him at the very back of his crowded mind. The thought had developed some time ago, when he began to doubt his ability to be as sinister as possible.

He looked at his less-than-capable hands and sighed softly. _Perhaps I'm getting too old for this?_

Tom redirected his gaze towards the empty, cold room before him and tried to think better thoughts.

A soft knock came at the door.

"Come in," Tom wheezed slightly. He coughed and settled his eyes on the boy entering the room.

"Young master Draco, how are you?"

Drace nodded towards Tom, a very solemn look on his face. Tom noticed that his skin was ghastly white, and his clear, gray eyes weren't nearly as bright as normal. Purple splotches underneath his eyes marred his smooth complexion. The blonde boy took a seat across from him in an overstuffed chair.

"I'm fine, sir, just...preoccupied."

Tom arched his eyebrow gracefully. "I can imagine why. Anything...?"

Draco shook his head.

"I'm terribly sorry, my dear boy. What was it you came to ask about?"

Draco looked up from his knees and said softly, "The locket."

Tom nodded and folded his hands over the desk before him. Papers littered the surface, documenting everything that happened lately; Potter's state of health, exceptional reports from his Death Eaters, and plans - plans that no one must see. He casually shuffled them together with the reports and laid his hands on top of the pile, eyeing Draco.

The boy seemed shaken up, as if someone had just performed the Disillusionment charm on him. He watched as the youngest Malfoy ran his hand through his pale, lank hair and blinked rapidly.

"Are you okay, master Malfoy?"

The boy nodded, and Tom sighed mentally; he couldn't stand weakness and tears.

Draco seemed to gain control of himself and looked Riddle in the eye. "The locket came with a note, sir. It...it was from his parents. They sent it with ancient magic."

Tom looked on in surprise. _James and Lily...are alive?_

He shook his head slowly. "That's not possible, I'm afraid. The Potters can't have sent anything through any kind of magic; they're dead." _I know, I killed them,_ he added to himself silently.

Draco withdrew a small, folded piee of parchment from his pocket and set it on Riddle's desk. Both men stared at it, as if it held the answers for all questions ever posed.

Tom reached forward and grabbed the note, and read it to himself quietly. He had to read it three times before the message sunk in.

"They're...alive? But..._no_!" he spluttered.

He tossed the parchment aside and rubbed his eyes fiercely. _This can't be possible! The Potters...I killed them with my own wand!_

"Sir?"

Tom removed his hands from his face and peered at the Malfoy heir. "My apologies, dear boy."

Draco shook his head and whispered, "What I right to put the locket on Harry's neck? What if it was a hoax, and it really a curse locket that could...that could kill him?" The boy looked fervently behind him, as if he were ready to run back to the Hospital Wing to make sure Harry was still breathing.

Tom sensed his distress and quickly calmed the boy. The Potters were watching him, he knew it; he had to act flawlessly now more than ever.

"Why don't you go and comfort Hermoine? She needs reassurance as much as you."

Draco stood without hesitation and practically sprinted for the door. "Thank you for seeing me, sir."

Tom waved him off. "Anytime, my boy."

Draco threw open the door and took off at a fast run. Riddle smirked after him and used wandless magic to close the door softly behind him.

He sat still for a moment, thinking to himself, piecing two and two together. Suddenly, he stood up, causing the papers on the desk to fall gracefully to the floor. But he didn't care about papers, not when James and Lily were still _alive!_

He paced towards the grand window behind him, deep in thought.

_What if the Potters are still alive, alive and plotting against me?_

The sun was about to set, casting a awrm, red glow in the room. Riddle was overcome with unexpainable rage; he threw the nearest trinket across the room, causing it to shatter into pieces.

Seeing the broken bits on the floor, he seized more objects and hurled them at the wall. The sound of things breaking and dying, submitting to his power made his ears hum with delight.

The portraits littering the other walls began to gossip and whisper, guarding their mouths with their hands. Riddle shot them a nasty glare, and they fell silent. He started forward and grasped a portrait at random and pitched it to the floor.

He roared and threw more portraits into the increasing piles of debris that plagued the room. Soon the entire floor, and every surface, was covered in broken pieces of portraits, odds and ends, and papers.

Riddle stood in the middle of the wreckage, leaning against the wall, and breathing heavily. Without further ado, he grabbed his wand from his pocket and stormed out the door.

The room was blanketed by heavy silence, but was soon broken by a lone voice in the midst of the rubble. The subject of a tattered portrait turned to its neighbor and whispered, almost contritely, "Dumbledore's been acting strange recently."

_**.XHXDX.**_

It was very, very dark.

Harry couldn't see anything; it was light someone turned off every single light within a hundred meters. It was beginning to scare him.

He could vaguely feel a warm hand holding his frigid one, a shuddering thumb stroking his own.

He tried to open his eyes, but he didn't make any progress. Everytime he moved there was a fresh wave of sheer pain that washed through him, dousing every fiber of his being; it was like stepping into a wall of ice water.

He could hear, very faintly, whispers that sounded urgent and frustrated.

"What do you _mean_ there's been no progress?!"

_Draco!_ Harry desperately tried to move, to rush to the side of his blonde love, to comfort him. The most he could do, to his extreme aggravation, was twitch his right index finger slightly.

He tried again; maybe a noise would help. He attemped a groan, but nothing happened. It sounded like a small sigh to Harry's sensitive ears.

There was a new pressure on Harry's concave, too skinny chest. He desperately tried to move, shout, scream, anything to make them see that, yes, he was alive and concious.

He could hear Draco's soft, melodic, perfect voice beside his ear, whispering sweet nothings that the blonde thought Harry couldn't hear. Harry so longed to tell Draco, to hold him and tell him that he was fine, he was still with the living.

Draco's voice sweeped into his heart, shoving every other emotion - pain, anger, sadness - to the furthest recesses of Harry's black mind.

"I love you, Harry."

It made Harry wanted to scream.

"I miss you." It was amazing how big of an impact that those three tiny words had on Harry's weak heart. Draco's words made the long dormant heart speed up, much too fast for Harry's condition. A nasal beeping sound made itself known off to Harry's left side; he wanted it to go away, it was too bothersome for his foggy brain right now.

Suddenly, there was alot more movement surrounding Harry. He could distinctly yet at the same time ambiguously recognize each voice that swirled around him.

"What's going on?" _Hermoine._

"His heart's sped up! My word..." _Poppy._

"What if he's having a heart attack?!" _Neville._

The only voice that Harry needed to hear was Draco's. Although he strained his ears for the low pitch of his love, he couldn't make out anything through the babble of the dozen voices that now surrounded him, poking him, turning his head this way and that, trying to gauge a reaction.

_They'd get a reaction, all right, if only I could move_, Harry thought, getting increasingly annoyed with the prodding of unfamiliar fingers.

There was a sudden warmth that spread throughout his right hand; though he couldn't turn his head on his own, Harry instinctivley knew that it was Draco that was massaging his stiff fingers.

He hadn't expected anything like it. He knew that recovery would be slow and very painful; he _was_ practically oozing basilisk venom; but this pain was so much worse. His heart was being torn in two, shredded to pieces. Images flased too quickly to be recognized, though Harry somehow knew that it was him and Draco.

_How strange,_ Harry thought, as the bright whirl of pictures flashed by his sore eyes. _This is all from Draco's point of view._ He could see the new, unexpected vantage point of the basilisk attack; he saw _himself_ killing the serpent. He knew it wasn't his vision for sure because the sides of the tunnel through which he saw these events were gray, foggy, and swirling softly. _Seers' vision!_

There was a wetness on his hand; _Draco's tears._

Harry heard a sudden shriek of surprise; he quickly knew it was Hermoine's.

_"_His chest! _Look at his chest!"_

All motion ceased around him, and Harry could hear Draco's sniffing his tears away. His hand twitched slightly, and there was a gasp of delight from the blonde boy.

There was a sudden, though not unpleasant warmth oozing throughout Harry's stiff, cold body. It seemed to radiate at his chest, where there was a small, tangible weight; from there it slowly went to his fingers and toes, lifting the queasiness in his stomach and the stupor from his brain. Soon enough, Harry could think clearly, and used his new advantage to assess the damage to his body.

_Broken ribs, at least two...severly sprained wrists...no feeling in my left leg, total numbness...scratches and bruises everywhere..._Harry inhaled deeply, out of shock and some fear, _the entrance of the poison..._

The basilisk-imposed wound festered and burned. It was in a most inconvienient place, the middle of his chest, swooping down towards his pale, pale stomach, making it hard to breathe reguarly. Everytime he moved his chest, Harry could feel a small, fresh cut open through the sheer scabs and bleed anew.

But that was nothing compared to the relief he could feel through Draco's soft touch as he wrapped his nimble fingers around Harry's. His broken heart was mending, achingly slowly, but it would be better in the end. The images were coming much, much faster, and Harry gave up trying to see them, letting them flash by his eyes like streaks of lightning.

The most startling thing happened then; he felt frigid fingers at his pulse point on his neck, though he had no idea who it could be. The world seemed to melt away as the icy feeling spread to Harry's face and spine, making him shiver very slightly.

"He's breathing on his own, Professor. There's no need to use your wand again."

Harry felt the tip of a wand in his breastbone, poking and prodding him not at all gently. The fingers went away, finally, and he felt like dancing with delight. Then he heard the last voice he wanted to, one that belonged to Professor Snape.

"You can never be too careful when dealing with mortal injuries, Poppy. Now stand back and let me assess this... unlikely increase in Potter's progress." Harry heard Poppy huff indignantly, then receding footsteps.

"Potter...if you can hear and comprehend my voice, blink once."

Harry felt like snorting in laughter. _Like I'm gonna blink for you, Severus. Put Draco on the line, and I'll think about it._

"Potter. Now would be a delightful time to start living again."

_Well, only because you said "delightful" and that word is defidently not in your vocabulary..._

Harry blinked once, almost faster than anyone could have seen, but Draco, Hermoine, Neville, and Severus, who were unbearably close to his face, didn't miss it.

"Good, good...Now try to say something, anything. I'd even take a curse word."

_Are you joking? _thought Harry. _Any other time I swear at you, I'd get a detention, and now you want me to? Now I almost wish I actually _could_ speak instead of just thinking about it..._

"Potter!" Severus was torn between strangling the boy while shouting at him or just getting Dumbldore in there to wake this annoyance the _fuck_ up.

Draco looked at his professor's face in dismay. "Severus, you're never going to get him to talk if you're screaming at him."

Severus shot Draco a withering glance, then removed his hands from Harry's shoulders where they'd ended up when he was practically shaking him. "If you're so special, _Draco_, then you can wake him up."

"I shall."

Draco replaced Severus, and soon there were tears of frustration making their way down his face. "Just wake up, Harry. I miss you, I need you, I love you..."

This kept up for a full fiteen minutes while Neville and Hermoine watched. Severus had left, as he had a class, but Hermoine hadn't so much as moved from her place on the bed next to Harry's since she arrived in the Hospital Wing this morning. Her classes were taught by Severus, making him very mad with her, but she honestly didn't care if he hexed her or, worse, got her teaching licsense revoked. All that mattered was that Harry woke up and _lived._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Tom stolled down the streets as easily as he could manage, given the situation. The fact that James and Lily Potter were..._alive _made him ill.

He was in urban London, searcing for his enemies. He knew he had to eliminate the opposition if he had any hope whatsoever that he would reign over England.

Problem was, he had no idea where said opposition was.

He knew the Potters were in London or it's immediate area, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

_There's no way they could be alive._

_**.XDXHX.**_

An hour later, there had been no progress.

Harry lay comatose, though he was breathing on his own. Draco had to grateful for that much.

He'd just be alot _more_ grateful if Harry were sitting next to him, holding his hand and telling him that everything would be okay.

Hermoine was falling apart at the seams, it looked like. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face was spoltchy, and her hands were shaking madly. To add to the "mad woman" bit, she kept muttering random phrases under her breath.

Neville wasn't much better. He kept busy by reading and re-reading Herbology books, but his hands were shaking worse than Hermoine's.

It was Draco, however, that was feeling the real pain. Hermoine and Neville were seeing their best friend unconscious, but Draco saw his mate, his one and only, lying as though he were dead.

It was literally killing him. Everytime Draco looked at Harry's too-pale face, his heart thudded against his rib cage erractically, making the fragile seams that held it together shread hopelessly.

_Live. Just live._

_**.XDXHX.**_

It was too dark for Harry's liking.

He could hear erratic beeps coming from a monitor somewhere near him, and the beeps were getting annoying.

He could also hear Hermoine crying softly to his left, and Neville sighing and sniffing.

His situation was made worse by the fact that he couldn't hear Draco at all. His hand was unusually cold without the blonde's warmth.

He knew he was alive, because his lungs were filling with fresh air by his own will, but he didn't have the energy to move. It was like someone had bound him to the bed and left him there to die, unable to escape.

Suddenly there was a pain tearing through his chest, like the basilisk wound was ripped open with a dagger. His skull was cracking open, spots behind his eyelids, making it hard to see... his limbs were on fire, his skin withering away, leaving the bone to decay... fingers being ripped off, something slitting his neck, letting the blood flow free...

Then it was gone.

It had only lasted a total of two seconds, but Harry was beyond exhausted and frightened. No one seemed to notice the pain that had overtaken his body. Harry couldn't hear screaming, shouting, crying, or anything that concerned him being killed.

The pain was back again, staying longer this time; Harry was panting when it left him.

Draco noticed his breathing and rushed to his side, grabbing Harry's hand and placing it on his smooth face.

"Harry, what's wrong?...Hermoine! Neville! His eyes! _His eyes!_"

_**.XDXHX.**_

Lisa Kenten wished to be anywhere but where she stood.

Tom had just returned, summoned her to his office, and proceeded to break everything in sight...including her arm.

She let the tears fall from her face, landing on the carpet. She didn't care if Tom punished her; she just wanted to go home and not have to worry about whether she'd live another day.

He had his back turned to her, muttering horrible oaths under his breath, smashing portraits and silver trinkets alike. The office door wasn't locked this time. Surely he wouldn't notice if she just left...?

"Don't even think about it, Kenten."

She winced; his voice carried icy daggers that flew through her chest.

A portrait flew past her head, missing her by inches, and splintered against the strong wall opposing it. She sighed jaggedly, trying to keep silent so he wouldn't throw _her_ against the wall next.

A particularly loud clang rung in her ears. Tom swore and smashed another portrait. None of the occuapnts said anything; they knew it could be worse.

Lisa's arm hung uselessly by her side, and everytime she moved it a fresh wave of pain swooped over her.

_I have to get out of here, or I'll die._

She inched her way closer to the door, being extremely careful not to make a sound. Tom didn't notice her moving. There was an increasing pile of debris at his feet.

She was so close to the door... a foot away...

Tom didn't even see her as she flew from the office, towards the Hospital Wing as fast as her lame arm would allow her.

_**.XDXHX.**_

When she got there, however, there was no helpful nurse to assist her and heal her aching arm. Madame Pomfrey and some seventh years were crowded around a bed where a very badly injured boy was breathing erratically.

"His eyes! His eyes!" one of them was screaming hysterically. "Wake up, Harry!"

_Harry Potter! He's the one I almost killed..._

Lisa stood there, not knowing what to do. The moment seemed very intimiate, like a reunion of lovers after they've been separated. The only thing that kept her from just walking away and forgeting the scene was the pain in her arm.

After ten minutes of the boy shouting at the comatose one with no result, Madame Pomfrey noticed her and walked over.

"Miss Kenten! What's wrong with your arm?"

Lisa held it out gingerly, trying to keep it from jostling mercilessly. "I...I fell down the stairs."

Poppy gently grabbed her arm and poked it with her wand a few times before muttering something that made her arm turn light blue. When the light faded, her arm felt perfectly normal, like nothing had ever happened.

_Like nothing had ever happened._

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Draco, stop crying."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"He's alive, isn't he?"

"That's not enough."

Hermoine sighed. Nothing was getting through to him...

Draco sat next to her, stubbornly crossing his arms and letting the tears fall. Neville was on his other side, sitting very still, trying to decide whether to give Hermoine a hand or let her deal with the emotional vampire.

"Draco...Harry'll be fine. He's breathing, he's blinking, he's _okay_."

"Shut up, Hermoine! You have no idea what I feel right now, so just _shut up!"_

Hermoine stared at him in shock, but then nodded and took Neville's hand and walked out of the room.

Drcao stayed where he was for a moment, to see if they were spying on him. When he figured out they weren't, he stood and rushed to Harry's side and grabbed his hand.

"I love you...I love you so much...please wake up and tell me the same."

Harry's hand twitched as Draco closed his eyes and tried to stop the flow of tears as they landed on Harry's hand. Draco kneeled gracefully next to Harry's bed and put his head on the ebony haired boy's arm.

"I would give away my sweetest memories if I could just be with you again..." he whispered. "I love you."

_**.XDXHX.**_

_"I_ _would give away my sweetest memories if I could just be with you again..."_

_"I love you."_

That was all Harry needed to use the last of his energy, the last of his strength, to open his eyes.

Draco didn't notice as he drew in another breath, preparing himself to give his last bit of strength to Draco, his mate, his companion, his love.

It all happened quicker than Harry thought it would, and not nearly as painful as he'd braced himself for.

_"I love you too, Draco."_

_**.XDXHX.**_

**I worked for five hours straight to get this done for you guys as an early gift... please don't kill me for talking half a lifetime to get it out. It's still not the same as what I had written down before for this chapter, but it's pretty close.**

**Happy holidays and an awesome new year!**


	19. Chapter 19 : Now awaken, my child!

**Last chapter might have been a little confusing, but I think(more like hope) that this one will clear it up for everyone.**

**Someone reviewed asking if Harry died at the end of chapter 17. The answer is a resounding _NO_. Harry didn't die! He woke up from his episode, but he has no energy because of all that nasty basilisk venom still in his system. He basically woke up, told Draco "I love you", and passed out again.**

**Harry will never die! Never! Not a million bajillion years! ...Not in this story, at least. XD**

**Mood-setter-thingy: "Blue and Yellow" by The Used. I don't think it fits that well, but I heart this song :)**

_**.XDXHX.**_

**Chapter Nineteen: "Now awaken, my child!"**

_**.XDXHX.**_

If ever there was any confusion about Draco's devotion to visiting Harry, there wasnt any now. Ever since Harry had said those three magic words, the blonde boy hadn't left his side.

His friends were getting slightly worried about Draco's mental health, but he reassured them he wasn't insane; he was only being protective.

Obessively so.

For hours on end, Draco would hum, sometimes sing, a song over and over into Harry's ear, trying to gauge his ideal reaction... Harry waking up and never putting him through this again.

Harry's movements were much more pronounced and obvious now: he could move his whole hand, turn his head, and clench his fist. He could blink, though very rapidly and not for long, and recently developed the ability to whisper random words. Many time, said words were _Draco, need, miss, life, _and _light._

Perhaps the strangest word that Harry whispered was _never;_ that word alone made Draco spend hours wondering what his love could have meant. _Never... _leave Draco? _Never... _give up? _Never... _stop believin'?

Whatever that formerly unconscious savior meant, Draco hoped that it had nothing to do with dying.

Harry moaned softly, shaking his head from side to side. Draco was by his side in a heartbeat, grasping the ebony haired hand in his own.

"Hush, Harry love, all will be well soon." _It better be, or I might just slap him awake._

Hermoine walked in then, her deep scowl making her mood known. Draco smirked. Hermoine had obviously come from teaching. Now he knew why Severus always had an expression of pure disgust on his face whenever he saw the professor.

"Hello, Draco. I have news."

"Which would be?"

Hermoine reached the bed where Harry lay and perched on the edge, looking like she was going to make something(or someone) explode.

"Well, Harry's been here for about... two weeks, right?" At Draco's nod, she journeyed on. "Poppy thinks that since Harry's waking up, regaining consciousness, stuff like that, he'd good to go."

Blond eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "'_Good to go_'? Herm, he can hardly move."

She smirked at him and said, "I meant good to go as in he can leave for bedrest elsewhere."

Draco gasped; it had been far too long since he'd been able to talk with his love. Now that the word was almost official that Harry would be moved into a different bed, he could hardly contain his excitement, deciding that the best way to express his joy was to jump and hug Hermoine tightly enough to make her cheeks color.

"This is _wonderful!_ Do you know how long it's been since-" he broke off abruptly at her hurt yet angry expression.

"Yes, Draco, I do know."

Thinking of nothing better to do, he released his bear-like grip on her shoulders and stepped back, letting her stalk off to be alone with her thoughts.

"...Oh," was all he could manage.

_Of course_ he knew Hermoine was Harry's best friend, and _of course_ he knew that seeing him like this was hurting her too, much more than she'd let on. But he couldn't seem to grasp that she was feeling anything... all that seemed to matter to him was his slowly breaking heart. Hary was _his_; no one could understand how much it killed him to see him lying barely conscious on a hospital bed. Harry was his alone to pine for and mourn over.

_How completely selfish of me_, he thought bitterly. _Hermoine's feeling what I'm feeling too._

He sighed; the day had hardly started and already he was emotionally drained.

Of course, being a psychic did that to a person. All that being so completely _in tune_ with other people's, mostly strangers, emotions was hardly was anyone could call simple.

He let his gaze wander to Harry, who was twitching slighty in his potion-induced sleep. Draco sprinted over silently to hold Harry's hand before he could wake up so Draco would have to see the sheer pain whirling and swirling in those emerald eyes.

_I guess basilisk venom isn't exactly what could be considered a cure-all_, he thought darkly, then shook himself from his slight trance and traced the now familiar pattern of the lines in Harry's thumb over and over. He knew that Harry couldn't feel much of anything - Poppy had practically thrown half her potions stock at him - but somewhere in the corner of his mind, he couldn't help believing that Harry knew what was going on.

He just had no proof.

He sighed again and let Harry's moving chest calm him down. _At least he's breathing on his own now..._

_**.XDXHX.**_

Behind dark covers, he couldn't discern helpful from harmful influences.

Harry tossed and turned mentally, twisting his thoughts into complex things he'd never have thought of before. He just never had the time... and now, that time was stretching into aeons before him.

It was slowly derailing his brain into a pile of mush that wouldn't help him one bit.

Bright, random flashes accompanied the blackness. Every few seconds or so, there'd be a multicolor explosion behind his eyelids.

Faintly, very faintly, he heard voices, and then fingers and hands touching him gently. Somehow, even though his brain was turning to mush, he knew that those fingers and hands touching, oh so gently, belonged to none other than Draco Malfoy.

The flashes went on for some time; how long, Harry could not tell. All he knew was that one moment, they were there, obnoxiously so, and then they were just gone.

The sudden absense of the bright explosions alarmed him; _Does this mean I'm a goner?_

They were gone for only a few moments.

Draco stopped caressing his thumb. The depletion of feeling unnerved him even more than the explosions leaving. _Am I... dead?_

It seemed like everything in his body and mind jsut stopped then; heart, brain, and every other thing he possessed ceased to function. He couldn't breathe... his lungs wouldn't let him.

Suddenly, a whole new explosion took over him: clean, fresh air, more pure than any he'd ever inhaled, rushed into his lungs with the ferocity of a starved animal. His heart pumped so quickly he was convinced that he'd perish of a heart attack, or of his heart jumping ship and pushing through his shaking chest, leaving behind a scarred and dead Harry Potter.

Neither of these outcomes occurred; he did, however, feel his skin heating and cooling in quick succession, like his blood was alternatively boiling and freezing solid.

The oddest, yet most unwelcome, occurence was that the flashes were back, now much more vivid and obnoxious than they'd ever been. The flashes seemed to pulsate... knocking all other thoughts out of his mind.

The flashes builed into a quick rythym; each second, they became brighter and brighter, until Harry couldn't stand it any longer. All he wanted to do was open his eyes and forget those lights were ever in existence.

A voice was emanating throughout his consciousness... the voice sounded eeriely familar, like he'd heard it before, but not for a long, long while...

_Harry, dearest child..._

_Mother! _Harry realized with an electric bolt that sizzled throughout his body, making his fingers and toes tingle pleasantly.

_Yes, Harry... How your father and I have missed you!_

He opened his mouth to protest, but the voise made a shushing sound, and he obediently closed his mouth, eager to hear her musical voise again.

_Thank you, dear child... there's something important I came to tell you. You must listen carefully, Harry, for these direction are not simple, nor easy to carry out._

She waited, seemingly to see if Harry would respond, but when he didn't she continued on, her pretty voice becoming more anxious.

_Those you know are not what they seem. I mean this in the most awful way possible; you are being betrayed right this very moment. It pains me to say it, but it is so. Keep those you love dearly close; they will save your life. Strengthen your magic, your shielding and fighting abilities in particiular, for many a battle will come upon you and your mate, Draco. _

Here Harry gasped; how'd she know?

_Oh, Harry, honestly! Even though right now I'm just a disembodied voice, that doesn't mean that's all I really am! I know things, dear. I know who your mate is exactly, and I accept it, though your father isn't as open. He told me he thought it would have been Hermoine. She's lovely, you know, a perfect example of a mate for life. But I know these things cannot be reversed; if they were, there wouldn't be any vampires. Draco and you are together, for as long as you live. _

Harry smiled.

_Back to where we were. There are people waiting for you to awaken, some who wish you much harm, and some who wish for nothing more than to see your smile. There isn't much I can say right now for the first group, but in particular, someone is plotting your death as we speak. I cannot tell you who, for reasons only your father and I understand. However, I can say this; he is old, older than can be imagined, yet young at the same time. He - for it is defidently a he - sent the basilisk after you. He is abusing a girl named Lisa Kenten horrifically. Be sure to ask Hermoine about that. I must leave you, darling, we're being hunted like animals. It's barabaric, really. I love you, Harry, always know this. Now awaken, my child! Draco is longing to see you!_

The instant the pretty voice is gone, Harry can feel energy and strength seeping into his limbs. It felt like getting electric volts sent through his body after lying still for so long. The words of his mother gave him an eerie desire to move, move, move, get up and race around Hogwarts for as long as his legs would stand it.

For the first time in a long time, Harry could do more than twitch, shake, or gently stretch; his mind unblocked itself from rushing waterfalls of memories; his heart beat faster and faster; his lungs sucked in fresh, sweet air. He was concious once more.

_**.XDXHX.**_

"Is this fine?"

Harry nodded. He actually would have liked it to be more to the left - the better the view from the window - but if it kept Draco from killing himself to please him, the bed was fine where it was.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now sit and breathe."

Draco nodded, his hollow cheeks bright pink from excitement and exertion. _HARRY'S BACK!_

Forgoing anymore moving of the furniture, Draco decided to curl up with his love on his bed and stay for awhile.

Harry watched Draco as he lowered himself onto the green blanket covering him. The blonde seemed so much more worn, like some rag that had been wrung out too many times. His skin was sickly pale; his eyes were overly bright, although sometimes they became glazed over from exhaustion; and his formerly soft, shiny hair was lank and dirty form going unwashed for days.

Harry knew this was somehow his fault, for he knew that Draco would be the picture of cleanliness if he hadn't been so worried about his mate dying.

_But I'm fine now,_ he conluded, _so Dray should be fine too._

_**.XDXHX.**_

The day after Harry's homecoming passed by quickly; he barely noticed the hours as they slipped like liquid into the next.

The time was very well-spent, according to Harry. Draco spent many an hour telling Harry what had transpired while Harry was half dead. Hermoine was very pleased to see Harry "out of those nasty hospital rags," as she put it. She knew, however, that Harry couldn't be all hers; she had to share her friend with Draco, who has even more delighted that Harry was back.

Neville was slightly surprised to hear that Harry was okay; he had been convinced that his friend would die becuase of "that rotten snake-thing." It didn't stop him from hugging his fellow Gryffindor until breathing was difficult for both involved, however.

While Draco and Harry spent the day together and "catching up," as Draco had said with a sly smile, Hermoline was in the library with Neville looking up other times in history when such an even had occured. Luck wasn't with her.

_**.XDXHX.**_

The days went by, slowly now, for Harry was getting more and more anxious about the impending confrontation with Voldemort, and, quite possibly, vampires.

He pulled the note that Sirius wrote him ages ago out of his pocket.

_Harry-_

_Be prepared. Soon._

_Sirius_

_Soon was a very long time ago,_ he thought with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Draco walked in from his last class of the day - Harry was excused for the week - and ropped his bag ungracefully to the floor.

"What's with the face, Harry?"

The boy with black hair shook his head slowly, the paper in his hand making a crinkling sound. Draco rushed to Harry's side and took the note from his hands and placed it onto the dresser beside the bed. Then he held Harry in his arms, for when the note vanished from his sight, Harry had started to shake.

"Shh, Harry, everything's fine."

Harry shook his head slowly. "No, no, no, it's not. Dray, we're in over our heads."

"How so?"

"Vampires' plague. We're at risk. Everyone around is at risk. Hermoine! Neville!"

"Hermoine and Neville know this, Harry. Theyre looking up ways to stop it from getting to us right now."

"That won't do anything, Draco! You don't understand! _This could kill us!"_

Draco found he couldn't breathe for a moment. "But Father..."

"It doesn't matter what Lucius said. He doesn't understand either."

"If we can't stop this, how do we curb the chaos to follow?"

"We can't. All we can do is stay together, far away from humans, and hope with everything we have that no one we love is killed."

_**.XDXHX.**_

The moon was so bright tonight, it was hurting his eyes.

Of course, his thirst was't helping matter either.

Padding silently across the cold floors, Harry woke Draco, who wasn't very pleased about being stirred from his warm bed. He nevertheless agreed to accompany Harry on a hunt to make sure that the still-recovering vampire wouldn't go nuts and overdrink himself.

The forest was brightly illuminated, making seeing in the persistent gloom much easier. Before long, Harry spotted an old, slowly moving doe.

The whole ordeal was over within seconds, but Harry felt like it took forever.

Draco had been keeping up with his diet; hunting was the only time he hadn't been glued to Harry's side. He did, however, indulge a bit and found a sickly rabbit.

The boys walked back to Hogwarts hand in hand, using their uninterrupted time together to play around and sneak in a kiss or two.

When they got back from their excursion, Harry discovered that his former energy had deserted him, leaving little more than a Harry-shaped lump behind.

Draco smiled and led Harry to his bed, where he tucked him in and fluffed the pillows. He got up to leave, but Harry stopped him.

"Don't leave me."

"Oh Harry," he answered as he took Harry's pale hand in his own, "I will never leave you."

Harry smiled sweetly, pulling Draco down onto the bed. "Tell me a bedtime story?"

"Better yet, I know a song."

"Ooh!"

Draco drew in a breath, then sang:

_You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum_

_Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie_

_You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop_

_Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye_

_And I love you so and I want you to know_

_That I'll always be right here_

_And I love to sing sweet songs to you_

_Because you are so dear!_

When Draco finished, Harry was horrified.

"Never again," he whispered.

"I was being serious! Whenever I hear that song I think of you!" Draco defended, his face turning a hue of purple.

"And when do you hear this?!"

"..."

"Exactly! Never again, I say!"

_**.XDXHX.**_

When Harry woke up the next day, he felt a steel will begin to form in his stomach, the kind that would make it entirely impossible for him to stray from his plan.

As he got up from his deep slumber that still held him down, he resolved to do three things.

The first was to speak with Hermoine about this Lisa Kenten girl. He knew nothing about her, but Hermoine somehow did.

The second was to speak with Lucius about the impending doom that was to manifest itself in the form of flocks of vampires. Also, he needed to find a good place for him and Draco to hide from the humans when it happened.

The third was, finally, to find his parents. He knew he couldn't survive through the coming months without them, and nothing was going to deter him from searching for them and rescuing them from whatever, or whoever, they were being hunted by.

His life, Harry knew, depended on these three things, and absolutely no one could convince him otherwise.

_**.XDXHX.**_

**This chapter really isn't that great, I don't think. **

**At least Harry's walkin' and talkin' now, right? **

**I originally meant for this to come out on Valentine's Day, but I became lazy and didn't type the rest of it out. Sorry!**

**The cupcake song in this chapter was forced into the story by my BESTEST FRIEND Kristen and my friend Jen. Kristen was gonna hurt me if I didn't put it in here... but I shall live another day, live to finish this story! Yay!**


	20. Chapter 20 : It's A Date

**WOO! I'm finally back on the fanfiction-writing bandwagon! Sorry last chapter sucked super bad, but I was pressed for time and I really wanted to get it out for you guys so no one would have cause to kill me... but suckage aside, thanks for the reviews!**

**I actually forgot that I had an account for a few months.. mostly because of school exams and the like... blah de blah blah.. but now it's summer! I can write all I want! Buahaha!**

**Okay, sorry if I'm somehow offending anyone here, but I don't see the point in detailing what happens day after day when there's so much to be said... so I'm not going to waste time(and chapters) on trivial stuff when there could be ACTION! 'Cause we all know everyone loves a little action now and again, teehee.**

**Therefore, in accordance(love that phrase) with the above paragraph, this chapter is set a few weeks ahead later than last chapter. Savvy?**

**X/X/X/X/X**

**Chapter Twenty: It's A Date**

**X/X/X/X/X**

Ever since Hermoine Granger's parents' discovery of their daughter's extremely high intelligence at the young age of three years, they provided her with puzzle books, some grade school level, all of which were completed in only a few hours' time. Watching their daughter pore over these books astounded Jane and Paul Granger. _How could such a small girl be filled with so much brainpower?_ they asked themselves.

Jane and Paul watched young Hermoine become teenage Hermoine, and while her attitude certainly changed through the years, her intelligence never decreased; in fact, the more she attended school and read challenging books for fun, the more her intelligence increased by the I.Q. point.

And now, thanks to her parents careful preservation of puzzle books in their daughter's bedroom, nothing could possibly irk Hermoine more than not being able to find an answer for any question posed to her.

The present date found her hunched over her teaching desk in her classroom thumbing through the notes she had carefully scrawled on spare parchment while her students slaved over a potion. Words, names, and phrases like_ locket, basilisk, Kenten, Potter_, and _vampire plague_ jumped out at her and spun frantically in her mind, trying to piece themselves together into something resembling logic.

Thus far, they were very unsuccessful.

"Professor Granger? Professor?"

"What, what is it now?" she answered crabbily. The girl called Lisa Kenten stood in front of her, watching her warily.

"Well, what?" Hermoine snapped.

"I.. I just needed to know where the infusion of wormwood was."

Hermoine immedialty felt guilty about mistakenly ignoring her pupils. After all, they were her responsibility... not the scattered pieces of parchment in front of her, although she infinitely felt that was more crucial.

"In the back cupboard, next to the powdered newt. It's a green bottle."

"Thank you, Professor."

Lisa strode to the back cupboard quickly and opened it, not noticing that her Professor was watching her with inquisitive eyes.

_That Kenten girl, she's not right_, thought Hermoine, _Always getting out of my class due to some illness or another, yet she never looks sickly, never looks frail... Yes, something infinitely odd about her._

**X/X/X/X/X**

Lisa scurried through the halls after second hour Potions class, not caring that she was nearly knocking over her peers in her rush to get to her dormitory for her free hour until lunch.

"Oy, watch it!" yelled a fifth year as Lisa barrelled by, accidently knocking down the fifth year's girlfriend in the process.

"Sorry!" she yelled back, not particularly caring that she pushed someone over.

Lisa finally arrived at her dormitory, only to her dismay to find that two others girls who shared the room were chatting idly in it. Lisa stomped her foot in frustration, then turned around and ran out of the room, much to her peers' amusement.

"Crazy Kenten," they whispered to each other, and giggled loudly.

**X/X/X/X/X**

Ten minutes later, Lisa found solace in the Astronomy Tower. Since it was still daylight outside of the vast castle, it wasn't currently in use.

She threw her heavy bag down as soon as she stepped foot in the tower, took out her wand and whispered a quiet spell to lock the door behind her, and collapsed on the ground shaking.

The last week had been disastrous. Dumbledore had been in a destructive mood. He arrived back at the castle a week ago, after searching fruitlessly for the Potter kid's parents. He said they had covered their trail smoothly, leaving no clues to seep through the cracks in that mystery.

How lucky for her.

Ever since he'd been back in the castle, Dumbledore had summoned Lisa whenever he felt particularly vengeful. He even woke her in the middle of the night, calling her in a way she couldn't ignore: a ring on her left middle finger sent arrows of pain throughout her entire body when he said a certain spell. What that spell was, she wasn't sure; for all she knew, he created it, and if that was the case, she had no way of escaping the ring's awful summons, for she could not research a countercurse for the spell that bound her to that vicious, awful man.

_How did I ever allow myself to be saddled with him? He's so terrible to me! _she thought sadly. _That dreadful, dreadful man! _

She knew the answer to her question, but was reluctant to think it. Every detail of that sad, pitiful story was etched into her mind for however long her life would last. Knowing that she couldn't avoid her horrible past for very long anymore, Lisa threw herself into the memory of the day she met Albus Dumbledore...

**X/X/X/X/X**

_Dirty brick walls glared at her from their ancient stance guarding the inhabitants of buildings. The disgusting, cold ground hurt her bare feet as she padded quckly through the alleys, trying to find a decent place to sleep for the night ahead._

_Orphaned at the age of eight by a long dead mother and murdered father, Lisa was left to the streets of London; she had no other family, both of her parents being only children, and her grandparents being dead for years, and Child Services wasn't present in her neighborhood._

_Scurrying through the darkening alleys as quickly as she could, Lisa finally spotted an old, decrepit matress that didnt look too filthy with cardboard boxes piled high around it, which looked as though they could provide some shelter for the impending rainstorm that she had heard predicted on a television display. _

_A crack of thunder boomed overhead, sending Lisa into a full out run towards the matress and its fortress of boxes. She was accosted, however, by a shabbily dressed homeless man brandishing a brown bag. _

_"Hey, girly, where ya headed? Can I help ya out, girly?" the man asked, but Lisa knew better than to trust him... he reeked of alcohol and grunge._

_She tried to ignore him on her mad dash to the matress, but he grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him._

_"Now, now, girly, none a'that! I think ya oughta be a nice girly for me..."_

_Lisa squirmed in him dirty grasp. She swallowed helplessly as he ran his red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes over her very slight frame in what she could only describe as hunger. He reached for her shoulder with his other hand, but she jerked away and scratched his cheek in a mad attempt to flee._

_The man became very angry with her then, and once again yanked her back by her arm. "Girly, don' do that," he growled as she struggled in his suddenly strong grasp._

_A noise overhead distracted him for a split second, his iron grip relaxed, and she yanked herself away and ran for the main street. Suddenly she felt something heavy hit her square in the back; The force knocked her forward onto her front. She landed clumsily, feeling her wrist smash on impact with the dirty ground. _

_"Tha's my girly," the man slurred at her as she turned herself around and cowered on the cement and mud beneath her. His shadow fell over Lisa, and she felt herself giving up, and went limp with the pain in her wrist and with fear of the man, felt her eyes go hazy and the edges of her vision go gray. _

_The a bright, beautiful green light hit the man from behind. He fell forward and landed beside Lisa. She crawled away, but she knew as soon as he fell that the homeless man was dead._

_Lisa looked up and saw a new shadow coming towards her, this one of a an elderly man in odd clothing. He held a stick and smiled at her._

_"Are you okay, my dear? I'm sorry to frighten you, if I'm doing so..."  
_

_She shook her head mutely. Why was this strange man being kind to her?_

_As if he had read her mind, he said, "I need an... assistant. You seem a perfect candidate. You will be fed, clothed, and taken care of, and then sent to school. Will you help me?"_

_She nodded again, but what could she offer? She was a penniless, desperate orphan child, nothing special to her name at all._

_"You are not nothing special, my dear. I see a beautiful, powerful young woman struggling to get out. What is your name, my dear?"_

_"Lisa," she muttered with a dry throat and shock._

_"Lisa, how pretty. Come with me, Lisa, and you will never be hurt again." She nodded._

_An hour later, she sat in a window in a huge, gorgeous castle wearing new, clean clothes with water from her hair from her shower seeping into her shirt. She watched the rain come down, and thought of the dirty city she had left behind, and how her life had been changed forever by that strange elderly man._

_His name, he had told her, was Albus Dumbledore._

**X/X/X/X/X**

"Nothing? You've found nothing?"

"Harry, relax, please," coaxed Draco as he watched the other vampire throw down the Marauder's Map in frustration. "We've only just started."

"Maybe you're not trying," Harry spat back.

"Harry, that's very unfair, and you know it. Now calm down and _breathe_."

"I don't want to breathe, I just want answers!"

Draco interrupted Harry's oncoming rant from his position at the desk in his spacious room in the dungeons with a simple, "I'm doing the best I can."

Harry groaned and sank into Draco's neatly made up bed. "But I want to see them," he whispered.

"I know, love, but have we gone over all the possibilities?"

"A thousand times," answered Harry as he turned to watch the blonde boy as he gathered the Marauder's Map from its station on the floor. "What else could there posibly be?"

"Maybe they're not truly alive?"

Harry froze, thinking. Of course he had gone over this possibility in his mind, perhaps hundreds of times, but how else could Lily and James Potter have sent a healing locket to their dying son if they were dead? There was no way...

"Vampires can't die from _Avada Kedavra_, can they, Dray?" Harry asked quietly.

"Well... I'm not sure," mused Draco, his hand running through his hair in his usual concentration pose. "I've never really had the urge to ask my father what happens when I die. A bit morbid, you see."

Harry scowled. "Dray, be serious. Your parents are alive and kicking; I don't know where mine are." Draco dropped the small smirk from his lips, feeling dismayed.

"Has Hermoine thought of anything? She's the genius in this operation."

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Harry said softly, "If she has, she hasn't told me anything."

As if on cue, a clipped knocking sounded on Draco's portrait entrance. A medieval princess walked into the room through another frame, clearly disgruntles at being rapped across the face by a visitor.

"Master Draco, there's a very impatient witch waiting to come inside," she said in a melodic voice.

"Yes, let her in, Helene," allowed Draco.

A second later, Hermoine bustled into the room, her face flushed from running and her eyes dancing with excitement. "Lisa Kenten!" she said in a hurried voice.

Draco raised his eyebrows while Harry tilted his head to the side. "Excuse me?" he said.

"_I know who she is!_"

"And you're not telling everything what you know right this very second _why?_" roared Harry in surprise as he jumped up from his perch on Draco's bed and raced to Hermoine's form by the portrait entrance.

"_Who is she and why is she involved with anything?"_

Hermoine stode around Harry and sat on Draco's bed in the spot Harry had just vacated, gazing up at Harry with shining eyes. Drawing a deep, slow breath, she began her silioquy.

"Lisa Kenten is eleven years old. She's in Gryffindor, and she always misses breakfast. She's in my first class of the day with the Hufflepuffs, and is constantly scheming ways to get out of my class. Whenever she stays for the duration of the lesson, shes exits my room in a hurry and positively runs to a place that's yet unknown to me."

Draco looked thoughtful, his eyebrows knitted together and his eyes cloudy. Harry looked the opposite, his mouth agape and his eyes sharply green.

"What about the part that's involved with me? She's connected to that basilisk, I know it!" he shouted.

"You don't need to shout, Harry! I just told you what I know; forgive me if it's not exactly what you wanted," Hermoine retorted.

"At least this gives us a foundation to start with, love," Draco said in part to try and smoothe Harry's ruffled feathers and in part to calm his own frazzled nerves. "This is better than nothing."

**X/X/X/X/X**

"Hello, Hermoine!"

The witch in question looked up in surprise, then relaxed: it was only Neville who beckoned her from her seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Hello, Nev! How are you today?"

Neville beamed at being addressed so directly by Hermoine. "I'm doing fantastic, as it happens. I was planning on something very important today, you see."

Hermoine raised her eyebrows in invitation for Neville to continue. He obliged, saying,"I was planning to ask this girl I know to Hogsmeade with me this afternoon."

Professor Granger covered her mouth with her hands in shock. "Neville, where is this confidence coming from?" she said in mock fear.

"I figure it's time to stop being a child and grow up; no more hiding from my problems," replied Neville easily. Hermoine noticed his round cheeks were slightly flushed, as if he had been running - or he was nervous. She decided it was the latter.

"Are you, er, anxious about anything, Nev?"

He wrung his hands and studied his feet with fascination as he said in a rush that was hardly decipherable," Will you be the girl who comes to Hogsmeade with me?"

Hermoine felt her heart beat a bit faster, but queried, "What was that?"

Neville heaved a big sigh and looked Hermoine in the eye. "Will you accompany me to Hogsmeade tonight, Hermoine?"

Her heart stopped, then sped up, as if it thought its end was near and wanted to get a life's worth of heartbeats in a minute or less. She dropped the book she had been re-reading and picked it up clumsily. She stammered, " Oh, er, well I... er, sure, it sounds fun..."

Hermoine's heart sank as she saw Neville's bright, innocent smile. "Oh, that's exactly what I wanted to hear!" _Stammering and all?_ thought Hermoine mutinously. "Can we meet here in the Great Hall around five? Is that okay?"

She nodded weakly. "Yes, that sounds fine," she said in a voice barely above a whisper as she fiddled with the cover of her book. "Perfectly fine."

Neville offered her one last smile, and wandered away towards the doors that led to the rest of Hogwarts, a new spring in his step. Hermoine groaned. _What have I done?_

**X/X/X/X/X**

**I started this chapter sometime in June, but here I am in August, finishing it two days(not even!) before school is set to start again. Therefore, I ahve no clue as to when the next chapter will be finished, or even started. I can promise you this, though: You won't be disappointed!**

**Review; I've missed seeing all the lovely things you guys send me! )**


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